


At Her Feet One Shots

by Kulkum



Series: At Her Feet [4]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Emotional, Fluff, Love, Multi, Oral Sex, Romance, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-10 08:47:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 46,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7838278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kulkum/pseuds/Kulkum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is where I will put any one shots that can be connected directly to the At Her Feet series. These one shots can range from pools of thick and overly sweet sap, to the erotic, or the dark and violent. It depends on what I come up with. I have had a few requests, and I may fill them here.</p><p>I will update the tags and notices as content requires.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Proud

 

11:00pm

One week to graduation

 

“Well, I didn’t make top of the class, even if it was close. That cheetah is unstoppable. But I’m already an extra step behind you, Carrots. You sure you don’t want to wait for the second bunny out of this hell hole before you pick a partner?”

She released a soft snort as she looked over the papers laid out on her desk, in her little apartment, with a steaming microwave tray of tiny green vegetables sitting off to one side as she had her weekly call with Nick. “You’ve been in the Academy for six months now, and you still don’t know how partners work? They’re putting us together because we’re the only two in our size class, so it’s not like we actually have a choice. They’re even customizing a cruiser so we don’t have to drive around in that meter maid clown car. Besides, there are no cute bucks even enrolled in the Academy yet, so you’re just going to be stuck with me.”

“Cute buck,” came his sarcastic tone, and what she secretly liked to imagine was just the faintest hint of jealousy. It was just her imagination though, obviously. “They’d never pair you with another bunny. It’s… Waiiiit, no, it’s perfect! Two bunnies in uniform! It would be so cute that criminals just ‘Awwww’ themselves into surrendering! We have to tell the chief!”

Her giggle couldn’t be stopped, even if she tried after he again referred to her as ‘cute.’ She had given up on trying to stop him, for the most part, because it never seemed to work. That and everything he had once said to insult her came across so affectionate, how could she deny it? And right now, it felt good: hearing his voice over the speaker filling the small space of the room. It was amazing how big and empty something so small could feel when there was still nothing to fill it.

And she missed him. She hadn’t thought it would be possible to miss him as much as she did. She may have felt a small fraction of it in the months after her disaster at the press conference, but that had been tainted with guilt and the belief that she had destroyed any friendship that had begun to form. And after the Nighthowler case was solved, they had only known each other for two weeks before his application to the Academy had been accepted. And while a day hadn’t gone by in those two weeks that he wasn’t waiting by the station at the end of her shift – jokingly claiming to need her moral guidance to keep him on the right path – it had only been two weeks. She understood the psychology behind their quickly formed friendship, having saved each other’s lives, her career, and even the stability of Zootopia when it came down to it. But it had only been _two weeks._

She found herself staring at the picture of them together, a selfie that he had snapped while they’d had lunch together one ridiculously hot day. She had complained, because the humidity had been murder on her fur, but had put on a smile just in time for the click of the phone anyway. Now it sat in a frame next to the picture of her parents. Their faces squeezed together, a half smile on her face and a big overly toothy grin on his. Even with the silliness of the shot, it reminded her of how oddly good looking he…

“Hey Carrots, did I bore you to sleep?”

Snapped back by the sound of his voice so quickly that she almost got mental whiplash, she released a strained laugh as the idea fluttered from her mind.

“No, no not sleeping,” she dodged, shaking her head as she looked down at the notes she had made. She quickly scratched out his name, with the ‘I’ dotted with a little heart. Then rolling her eyes at herself, crumbled the entire sheet and tossed it in the trash bin. “Just working on this speech for the graduation. Speaking of which, are you inviting anyone?”

“Well, I invited Finnick, but that was more of a joke,” he said, and she could almost hear the grin in his voice. “I’m sure he’d feel like he was surrounded by cops for some reason. Other than that, I… No, no one else.”

The note of sadness in his voice caused a little knock in her chest, and her muzzle curved into a slight frown as she set the carrot pen down on top of the stack of papers.

“What about your mother? You told me that you wanted her to know you graduated,” she said, reaching out to pick up the phone. She placed it on the desk right in front of her, and laid her head on her paws so she could stare at the caller ID image of him. Sunglasses, ugly yellow shirt, fur ruffled and scraggly looking from sleep and frowning like he hadn’t wanted to wake up at the crack of dawn to get on the ZPD bus with a duffle slung over his shoulder. That’s where she had captured the photo, without him knowing it.

“Yeah, I want her to know when I’ve graduated. Past tense,” he corrected, trying to keep his voice light. She could still hear the tension behind it. “I want it to be done, have my badge, have my job and have my partner. I have to make sure nothing goes wrong before I tell her.”

“Wait,” she said, ears perking as she fully understood what he was saying. “She doesn’t even know you’re in the academy? Does she even know you’re going to be a cop?”

The beat of silence was long enough for her to get her answer, but he gave it after a few seconds anyway.

“No.”

“Nick, why?” she cried, shocked and unable to keep the disbelief from her voice. She picked up her phone again, and switched the call to video mode. “Turn on your video, and tell me why your mother doesn’t even know you’re about to become the first fox at the ZPD?”

“Judy,” he began, then stopped and released a low sigh.

The shuffle of a phone being moved made her ears twitch before the image of him months ago was replaced by the video image of him now. He was lying on his back in his bunk, holding the phone above him with one arm while the other was crossed behind his head so the camera gave her a full view of his head, shoulders and half of his chest. She tried to ignore the fact that the sight of him, wearing that dark blue t-shirt with the ZPD shield across the chest, caused a little quiver in her belly. A feeling that quickened a bit when he flashed her a warm smile, the sort that didn’t have a hint of hustle or sarcasm or even charm. Just him, smiling at her because he was happy to see her.

“Hey, Carrots.”

“Hey, Slick.”

“So you were about to tell me why you haven’t told your mother about any of this,” she said, after a few beats of silence, after she had managed to calm that sliver of attraction that just wouldn’t allow itself to fade.

“Look,” he began after a sigh, and she could easily see a silent sort of misery cross the vulpine features. “I’ve disappointed her a lot in my life. A _lot._ She never says it, never mentions it, but I know she wanted me to be more than some crummy street hustler.”

“You were crummy. Getting hustled by a second day rookie bunny. For shame, Nick,” she inserted to lighten the mood a little, and was gratified to hear his short laugh.

“I was ill prepared for the _adorable_ force of good that was Judy Hopps,” he conceded, then sobered up again, ears pressed to the side as he continued. “Anyway, I don’t want to risk anything going wrong. I don’t want to raise her hopes, and then mess this up. And don’t tell me that I won’t, because even I don’t think I will. I just… I’ll tell her the day I graduate. I’m going to go straight to her house; in uniform, badge freshly pinned to my chest, hopefully with my partner at my side and say ‘Look, mom. Your Nicky’s finally done something to make you proud.’ And hopefully… She will be.”

She had to fight to keep herself from getting teary eyed as he looked distant for a moment, obviously seeing something in his mind. It wasn’t hard to imagine what.

“Nick,” she began softly, but was cut off by a shout from the other side of the phone.

“All right ladies, social hour is _over!_ We’re entering the home stretch, and things are only going to get harder from here on out. So you’re going to need your beauty sleep, and lots of it because it offends my eyes to look at every one of ya! So lights out!”

The all too familiar voice of the polar bear, who seemed to delight in making life hell for aspiring officers, made Judy crack a smile and roll her eyes. She looked at Nick, who shrugged it off and returned her grin.

“You heard the boss,” he said, just as the lights in the dorm were shut down and shadows fell around him. The light of the phone screen allowed her to see him as he settled back down. “You know you’re the reason I’m here, right Fluff?”

“I do. Because you tell me. Every week, every time we’re getting ready to hang up,” she replied, though her tone remained soft. “Do you know that you’re only going to succeed because you’re good enough, all on your own?”

“I do. Because you tell me. Every week, every time we’re getting ready to hang up,” he mimicked, and they both grinned.

“ _Wilde! I said lights out, blueberry-boy!”_

“But Sarge, I’ll talkin to mah girl!” he called back, putting on a bumpkin accent and a pleading tone that had snickers coming from the darkness around him.

“Well, tell your _fluffy_ _bunny_ that she’s welcome to come back to the academy and join you tomorrow when you’re running an extra twenty laps!”

“Worth it, just to hear you say ‘your fluffy bunny’, ma’am!” he quipped, which led to another round of louder laughter, and a few hoots of approval. “I’d better go. See you at graduation.”

Judy wasn’t sure if she should burst out laughing, or blush furiously that the drill instructor had known who he was talking to after being called ‘his girl’ even in jest. She did a little of both, and waved at the screen rather than spoke before she ended the call.

Tapping the pen on the desk in silence for a moment as she looked down at the stack of blank paper, she thought about what he had said about his mother, and his fear of failing her again. About their parting words and what they meant to her. Her face set and her mind made up, she set the pen to paper and started to write the speech as it formed in her mind.

 

* * *

 

 

It wasn’t a glamorous life, but it was a decent one.

Having lived in the same apartment for more years than she cared to remember gave the place a feeling of permanence, and that was fine. The aging vixen didn’t need much, didn’t ask for much, and for the most part she was happy. A little concerned for her son, but that had always been. Her little kit. That’s what he would always be, no matter how much time passed or how much trouble he had gotten himself into and out of again. She glanced at her phone again – the ‘smart phone’ Nick had called it when he had given it to her – and saw another reply from him.

_Don’t worry! I’ll be coming by to see you in two days. We’ll talk then. Maybe we can have dinner? My treat. I’ll finally get to introduce you to Judy._

Judy. Of course she knew who Judy was, and not just from her son. The small gray furred bunny had been all over the news for weeks after what the reporters called “The Night Howler Incident.” That little bunny, and her son. Her son, standing beside a police officer! A police officer that, even as the cameras had flashed and the questions had been asked by reporters, her son kept watching at with a funny sort of look. He seemed pleased that she had been getting all of the attention, and had tried to make himself seem smaller in the background by comparison. His eyes had hardly ever left that tiny rabbit in her blue uniform, familiar green filled with pride. And affection. The sort of affection that had a little smile that wasn’t playing to the cameras curving his muzzle now and then as she spoke. The sort of affection that made her wonder.

A mother noticed these things, after all. A mother could see through the masks.

Smiling a little, she held the phone in both paws and started to tap in her reply with the tips of her claws.

_Of course dear. And I finally get to meet Judy. I am looking forward to meeting the reason I might never see grandkits._

She imagined, in her mother way as she smiled and waited for his reply, that he was staring at the screen trying to figure out exactly what her meaning was. She even thought that he might be typing something, rethinking, and typing again given the amount of time it took the phone to buzz again. She laughed lightly at the message.

_Oookay?_

“Pup,” she whispered affectionately to herself as she placed the phone on the side table without sending a reply. “Still just a pup.”

She was about to reach for the remote to the TV – a flat screen, which had also been a present from her son – when the light rap on the door made her pause. Her ears perked as she pulled herself out of the chair; she so rarely got visitors, unless the visitor happened to be Nicky. Reflexively, she reached up to smooth the orange fur on her cheeks, a color that age had hardly yet started to fade, and tug on her blouse as she made her way to the door.

The safety chain was in place, as Nick always insisted she keep it, when she opened the door and peaked out. At first not seeing anything, a movement much lower than she normally expected drew her green gaze down to the small, gray and white bunny standing there in a blue uniform with a manila envelope clutched to her chest. The flash of recognition was instant, and she didn’t hesitate for a moment to swing the door closed enough to allow her to slide the chain free before she pulled it open again and looked down into curious and uncertain violet eyes.

“Hello, ma’am,” the bunny started, and she felt a little tickle of amusement at the formal tone she used when she placed on paw over her chest. “My name is…”

“Judy,” she finished for her, her tone warm with affection that she could see surprised the smaller mammal as much as the use of her name. Pretense was for the young, she figured, and so stepped out to place one hand on the young rabbit’s shoulder gently to draw her into the house. Maybe it had been a bit of a test, too: maybe she wanted to see exactly how real the fearless and stalwart Judith Hopps was when invited into a strange foxes home. When the offer was accepted with a smile, and the touch of a predator’s paw on her shoulder didn’t cause a single twitch of that pink nose, her face softened even further. “My son has told me a lot about you.”

It was impossible to miss the little flash of surprised pleasure that crossed the cute, bright face at the words. Even with the uniform, the badge, the official look about her that was amazing considering the small stature, it was easy for a woman to see when another woman was pleased that she had been on someone’s mind. It showed right down to the quiver of her ears that became just a tiny bit pinker on the inside, and the way one paw rose to rub at the back of her neck shyly.

“He’s told me a lot about you, too Mrs. Wilde,” Judy said, making the vixen’s muzzle spread in an easy smile as she waved her towards the flower patterned couch with one paw.

“Has he now?” she asked, settling on the other side once the bunny had easily hopped up and sank into one of the cushions. “I’m sure you two have better things to talk about than me. We were just texting about you, in fact. He invited me to dinner, and said he would introduce you then.”

“Right,” Judy replied, and the smile that lit her face burned away most of the embracement. “Yeah, he did mention that. I almost forgot. I’ve been distracted with the upcoming academy graduation.”

She fell silent then, and Mrs. Wilde watched her with a soft, curious expression when she lowered her eyes to her lap. The thoughtful look made the vixen wonder why she was here, if they were going to meet in two days anyway.

 _The best way to loosen a tongue is with conversation,_ she thought, and leaned her arm over the back of the couch as she tilted her ears towards her unexpected, but welcome guest.

“You know, as much as he has told me about you, he never actually told me how you met. I know he helped with the Night Howler case, but… Honestly, dear, I can’t imagine what would have led _my_ son to help the police at all.”

“Oh! Well,” Judy began, and the vixen thought she looked a little uncertain. “I mean, he should tell you that, shouldn’t he? I’m a little surprised he hasn’t.”

“I have asked him, and he dodges the question. Very expertly, I might add,” she chuckled, and waved one paw for Judy to go on. “Indulge an old vixen, dear. I am very curious to know more about the bunny that Nick says is helping him keep his muzzle clean and paws off the streets.”

The bunny didn’t seem to be able to say no to that kind of request, and so she started to tell the story of how Judy met Nick.

It was no surprise when she talked about the pawsickle hustle. When he had first started to send her money and she had demanded to know where it came from, he had confessed the details to her. And had looked a little crushed when she had declined the money, telling him that she didn’t want the money from him to come illegally. But it was no more than a month later that he had come back with more money, and when she had tried to decline for the same reason, he had shown her the permit for his business and the receipt of declared commerce. How could she refuse him after that, knowing that he cared so much that he would legitimize a perfectly good con just so he could make sure that she had everything she needed?

His treatment of the bunny after that didn’t sit well with her, and she felt a bit of disappointment in her son when his connection to Mr. Big was mentioned. But she didn’t interrupt. And as the story went on, she felt that disappointment slowly turn to quiet hope. And more than a little respect for the small bunny, who had risked her career for a chance to prove herself and had managed to hustle a hustler who had the advantage of years and experience in the game into helping her. It was not the story she had hoped to hear, really. It even saddened her a little, until the bunny paused after telling her about their encounter with the savage jaguar in the Rainforest.

“Bogo asked for my badge then,” she said, her voice lowered but the vixen though it wasn’t sad as she expected. It was fond. “That was it. I was going to lose the dream I’d had all my life, the dream I had worked so hard just to get close to. The fox would be rid of me, finally able to go back to his life without some dumb bunny holding a carrot pen over his head. But he didn’t let it happen.”

“He didn’t let it happen?” she pressed gently when the bunny went silent, staring down at the envelope she held in her hand with a curious look on her face. “What did he do, dear?”

“He stood up to them,” Judy continued, and let out a little laugh that sounded surprised even now as she thought back on it. “He could have been done with all of it, but he stood up to them for _me_. Told Chief Bogo how unfair he was being, that they had stacked the deck against me on a case that even they couldn’t solve and that we still had ten hours left to solve the case. And after that, he changed. It didn’t take me long to realize that the Nick who had been trying so hard to get rid of me, had been mean and sarcastic, wasn’t the real Nick. The real Nick is compassionate, and earnest and smart. He cares more than I realized, more than I think he realized. Even after I made a stupid, stupid, _stupid_ mistake that hurt him right after I tried to show him how much I trusted him, he forgave me.”

She could see the myriad of emotions that played over the bunny’s soft features; some of them were clearly miserable, and she wondered about the mistake that still seemed to haunt her. But she said nothing, sorting through her own feelings about her son and this odd little female. This rabbit who had seen everything that she herself knew existed in her son.

“Your son saved my career, Mrs. Wilde. He saved my _life_ ,” she continued, placing her hand over her chest as if it might show how much it meant to her. “I want you to know: your son is the best mammal I know. And my standards are not low, because growing up all of my heroes were police officers. The sort of people that I used look at and think ‘That’s a good role model. That’s what I want to be.’ But Nick. Nick is amazing. This fox who I first thought was an irritating, sarcastic, unhappy street hustler became someone so important to me that I don’t even know what my life would be like without him, and I don’t want to know. He’s my best friend.”

_Oh you dear, dear bunny. He’s much more than that, isn’t he?_

“Mrs. Wilde,” the bunny began, but the vixen cut her off softly.

“Cathleen, dear.”

“Oh. Okay then, Cathleen,” she said with a nervous smile as she flipped open the large envelope she carried and pulled out a single piece of paper. “I’m sorry, but I’m really nervous about this speech. The sort of thing they make you do when they call you a hero, not even caring that you might make a bumbling idiot out of yourself. Could you read this for me? Let me know what you think?”

Looking down at the paper curiously, Cathleen wasn’t sure what to make of it for half a second before she shook it off and nodded. She turned to take her reading glasses from the side table, and after adjusting them on her muzzle, looked down at the speech.

_“When I was a kid, I thought Zootopia was this perfect place where everyone got along and anyone could be anything. Turns out, real life is a little bit more complicated than a slogan on a bumper sticker. Real life is messy. We all have limitations. We all make mistakes. Which means ― hey, glass half full ― we all have a lot in common. And the more we try to understand one another, the more exceptional each of us will be. But we have to try. So no matter what type of animal you are, from the biggest elephant, to our first fox…”_

Her paw came up to cover her muzzle when she saw the words ‘first fox’, and she forgot the rest as the little rise of hope in her heart became a large swell of emotion when she looked up at Judy. Held out in the small paw of the softly smiling rabbit was a dark blue bordered card with gold and white print. With a lightly trembling paw, she took and gazed down at it. Tears blurred her vision as she read:

_Announcing the Graduation of:_

**_Officer Nicholas P. Wilde_ **

_From Zootopia Police Academy_

Whatever else was printed there was lost as a sob escaped her, and she hugged the speech and the invitation to her chest with both paws as she let the tears fall freely through her fur.

“Nick wanted to make sure that he would finish this before he told you,” Judy explained, moving a little closer and reaching out to place a gentle paw on her shoulder. “He said he wanted to wait until he had his badge, so he could show you in person. But I think he wants you to be there. I want you to know: he’ll be my partner, and I trust him so deeply, I would never want anyone else.”

The vixen was sure it came as a surprise, but she didn’t care. She moved past the paw, and wrapped her arms around the uniformed bunny; pulled her close and squeezed her tight as she felt the combination of sorrow for lost years, pride that her son had found his way, and thankfulness towards this tiny gray bunny. The first moments of stiff surprise were quickly replaced by a welcome acceptance as the embrace was returned.

“Thank you,” she whispered into the shoulder of the blue uniform. “Thank you.”

And she held on a while longer, as she silently thanked her again and again. She thanked the miraculous rabbit for saving her son; for saving the young fox who had given up on being the upstanding citizen he had tried to be. And for reminding her that there had always been hope the someday he would prove to be everything she had seen the day he put on that little green uniform, and memorized a pledge that he would now be able to keep.

 

* * *

 

 

_Are police officers even allowed to be that cute?_

The thought had run through his mind multiple times during the ceremony. After she had walked onto the stage to give her speech, looking positively adorable in her dress Blues. And afterward when she had pinned the badge on his chest with a look of affection and pride that had made his heart feel ready to burst in his chest. Beyond the gut twisting nervousness, which he hid from everyone, and the pleasure he took in seeing that pride shining in her eyes, there was the feeling of accomplishment. A feeling that he had not really known, and had not realized he had missed in all the years he had spent convincing himself that he was happy as a street hustler. He could feel the weight of his shield on his chest with a glow of pleasure that he knew must have been reflected in every strand of fur and every twitch of his tail.

And now, finally with his new life ahead of him, he also felt the tug of regret that he had been too afraid to invite his mother to share in its beginning.

He mingled with the other graduates, all of whom he knew by name. The cheetah who had been top of the class, Jackson, was particularly friendly, likely now that their rivalry was over and the job they had both worked so hard to get was about to begin. He also talked almost as fast as he moved.

“You worked with Hopps before, right Wilde?” he was asking now as they wandered the grounds among the other students. The fact that the sky was a cloudless, bright blue lifted his spirits almost as much as the friendly chatter. It was a shame that he was being assigned to Sahara Square, which meant they wouldn’t have many chances to work together. “I mean, obviously I _know_ you worked with Hopps; we all saw the reports on the news, and she gave you a little more face time during the ceremony than anyone else. And now you’re going to be her partner!”

“Mmhm,” came his easy reply as he kept a lazy grin on his muzzle, turning his gaze up to the larger predator. “This goin’ somewhere, Swift?”

“Oh, right!” He laughed, his long tail swaying behind him as he nudged Nick’s shoulder lightly with one paw. “I was wondering if she’s really as amazing as they say she is. I mean, I know she has to be _amazing_ to even have passed at all, being a bunny. Sort of like you. You’re amazing.”

This made him glance up at the cheerful graduate beside him, his brow perking upward. “While I know I’m amazing, I’m surprised you think so.”

This made the cheetah throw his head back and laugh, which made the fox’s grin grow a little as he looked around the grounds again. He still hadn’t spotted the little bunny, though given the larger size of most of the graduates and attending family, that shouldn’t have come as a surprise.

“No! I mean, yeah, you are amazing,” the cheetah continued, shaking his head. “I mean, I’m a cheetah. Built for speed, three times your size, and I come from a family of cops. But you really pushed me. Those last three weeks, I wasn’t sure I would be able to keep up the pace for much longer. And Hopps! She’s like a legend at the academy. It makes sense that you’d be her partner, if she’s as good as they say she is.”

“Oh, she is,” Nick said, keeping his tone offhand and casual when he finally spotted her. She had changed out of her dress uniform already, and into her work vest. And God, she was beautiful as she stood on a large chair and had an animated conversation with an elephant that towered over her as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Had he thought beautiful? Obviously he meant adorable. “Her legend is nothing compared to the real thing. And just so you know, kid: I’m over a decade your senior.”

“Ah, I knew she was! That’s great, really... Wait,” he said, and stopped in his tracks. Nick saw how wide his eyes were. He hadn’t exactly made it a point to let anyone in the academy know his age, which was very late to be joining the force among what was generally a very young crowd. Letting them focus on the fact that he was a fox, in what was a very fox free crowd had been enough. The obvious surprise at the news made him chuckle. “Wooooow man. I mean, damn. Really? Now I’m a little deflated. _Really?_ What are you? Twenty-nine, thirty?”

“Thirty-three in a month.”

“Holy shit,” the cheetah murmured, making Nick smirk at the up and down look he gave him. With a glance around, the feline found the nearest fellow graduate, a rhino, and called out. “Hey, Grass! Wilde is _thirty-three_ in a month! Can you believe that? We could have been calling him gramps this whole time!”

The rhino turned, and his eyes instantly focused on Nick. The normally stoic and bullish face of the rhino seemed to relax a bit. The mouth at the end of that horned snout relaxed into one of the few smiles Nick had ever seen cross it, which had one of his brows raising slightly.

“Oh, Wilde,” he said in a throaty voice, before he stepped to the side and leaned down to guide the small mammal he had been talking to forward. “Someone’s been looking for you. I was just keeping her company, entertaining her with the story of how you almost fell off the ice wall because you stopped at the top to brag about how slow everyone else was.”

“Spreading lies about me. I was _motivating_ you slower mammals to get a move on. It’s not…”

His voice trailed off, and died completely when he lowered his eyes to who exactly his fellow graduate was ushering towards him. She wore that familiar ‘Sunday best’ outfit that she had owned since he was a kit: the long burgundy skirt with a simple by lovely lavender blouse. The combination had always brought out the color of her fur. She stood there, watching him with her hands folded in front of her in that demure, lady-like manner she always carried with her, and a soft smile on her face. He stared into green eyes that matched his own for a long moment in open mouthed silence, before he stepped towards her with both paws held out for hers.

“Mom? I… What are you doing here?”

“Oh, really, Nicolas,” she said with a little scoff, placing her hands in his as she held his gaze. “I wouldn’t have missed this for anything.”

When she pulled their joined hands to the side so she could run her gaze down the blue and gold of his dress uniform, he couldn’t help the automatic puffing of his chest. A little trickle of fear still lingered, though. What did she think? Would she be able to forgive him for not being the son she had wanted? Would she be..?

“Oh, Nicky,” he heard her whisper as she looked up at him. The tears shimmering in her eyes, eyes that were as bright with pride as the smile on her slender muzzle, soothed him. Even more so when she reached up, resting her paws on either side of his face for a moment. “Look at you. Just look at you. I’m so proud of you.”

His heart clenched for a moment, and then swelled with joy and relief when she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him close. Ears folded to the side, he allowed himself gratefully to be drawn into her embrace and wrapped his arms around her to return it warmly. He looked down at her with a soft smile, hardly aware that all of the other recruits had backed away or wandered off to give them privacy. It wasn’t until he noticed the light gray and blue motion to his right that he turned his gaze to see Judy standing there. Her ears were high, with her hands folded in front of her with a look of warm pleasure on her face and in her smile. When she realized that she had been spotted, she gave a little tilt of her head as the smile deepened a bit, just for him. And he returned the smile because he knew he didn’t have to wonder how his mother had learned about the graduation, just as he knew he was grateful to her for stepping past his fears to give him this moment.

It wasn’t until his mother drew back, kissed his cheek, and then wrapped Judy in a similarly warm embrace that he realized the truth of what he was seeing. Watching the mother he adored express warm and open affection for the rabbit who had started every change in his life, he realized that he had been right before: she was _beautiful_. And it was in that single moment that he realized just how deep his love for his new partner went, as impossible as that love would be. But he was alright with that. She never needed to know, after all.

_In uniform with a shiny new badge, with the smiling faces of the two women I love to look forward to for the rest of the day? You’ve got it made now, Nick._

_You’ve got it made._


	2. The Feral Mask (The Broken Mask AU Request)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was a request for an AU of The Broken Mask where Nick is the one smacked in the face with Feral Blue.
> 
> This Story is a present, and comes complete with a picture. [The Feral Mask](http://pre06.deviantart.net/8d27/th/pre/i/2016/262/2/2/the_feral_mask_by_thewyvernsweaver-dai57um.jpg)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning folks. A lot of my readers know that I consider my work to be romantic erotica, where I use pretty words and careful context to keep everything sexy but not crass. This is NOT that. While there is story and the characters remain true to themselves based on the At Her Feet world, this is unfiltered sex.

 

 _Why couldn’t she have taken the weasel?_ was Nick’s only thought as he sprinted after the smaller mammal, who was almost as quick and agile as Carrots herself. Ducking between buildings, scurrying over tree trunks, almost vanishing down an alley that lead deeper into the forest itself. Night vision at its best was able to spot slippery bastard in the shadows of the alley, digging through his pockets frantically. The fox assumed that he was trying to ditch the drugs, which was a common and completely useless tactic, and moved forward as quietly as possible while the weasel was distracted. Of course, being in what amounted to a forest with buildings made out of trees, the crunch of a leaf under his paw pads caused him to fail in this stealthy attempt with a wince.

The weasel spun around and his eyes widened when he saw the cop only a few feet away. With an alarmed cry of desperation, he flung his paw out, sending one of the tiny plastic bags air-born. Nick flinched when it smacked into his nose, the sweet scent of flowers filling his nostrils as the bag burst and covered his muzzle in a grainy blue powder. Annoyed and sneezing as it burned his nose and made his eyes water, he stumbled forward a few steps when the weasel took off again, only to stop. That burning had become a pleasant feeling. His mind hazed slightly, his limbs went numb and his vision wavered in a sensation that wasn’t entirely unlike being drunk. But this came on fast, and hit him with all of the force of being hit between the eyes with a hammer, making his legs wobble and his stance crumble as he dropped to one knee.

_Oh, shit. Not good, not good._

He slapped his paw into the mossy wall of the alley, trying to pull himself to his feet as the high started to change into something like he had never felt before. He world changed around him. Things became a little clearer even as the color seemed to drain away in a hazy grey. He could taste the rain in the air, he could hear his own heart beating too fast in his chest, and he could smell… So many smells. Maybe they had been there before, but now he could process them. Process the fading smell of unwashed weasel even as it faded, he could smell the larger feline predator that lived in a nearby house. And he could smell bunny on his uniform, from where she had placed her paw on his shoulder that morning; and the lingering scent of her from time spent in the cruiser so close to her. That sweet, delicious scent. The scent that he wanted all over his body, until it was branded into his fur and became a permanent part of him.

But even as things became so clear in some ways, they faded in others. Thoughts became less focused, harder to hold onto, harder to form. Slumped against the wall as he slid to the ground, paws clasped at his head as he growled when more thoughts slipped away to be replaced with base, primal patterns, he did the only thing that he was sure would help him. And in a panic, screamed for the only bunny that stayed firm in his mind.

“ _Carrots!”_

* * *

 

 

_Oh no. Nick, Nick, Nick!_

After hearing the strange scream of Nick’s pet name for her, his name was almost all she could think as she ran towards the origin of the sound. It had sounded so… Wrong. Like he was in agony, like he was letting out one last desperate cry before something terrible happened and it was her name that he called. She had never run so fast in her life, never wanted to be _wrong_ more in her life. She hoped that when she found him that everything would be fine and he had just called her name like another other day and she had heard it wrong because of the fight with the ram. Knowing that she was lying to herself meant that the fear only ramped up as she pushed her legs to move faster - until her muscles burned from the strain - as she came around the building she was sure the sound had come from.

“Nick!” she cried the moment she saw him hunched over in the alley. It was dark. It was hard to see more than his uniform and the orange and black of his tail; she couldn’t tell if there was any danger that remained. All she could think was that he was alive but obviously hurt if the heaving breaths he was taking were any indication. Running through first aid for predators in her mind even as she closed the distance between them, she reached out to place one paw on his shoulder. And instantly yanked it back when the low growl erupted from her partner. “Nick? What’s…”

It was like a flicker of memory turned into a nightmare. The hunched over form strained, as if struggling against something that couldn’t be seen. The growl became a constant sound, mingled with the huffs of labored breathing as his gaze snapped to her. She saw wide emerald eyes. Eyes that were not charming, or sparkling with affection, or even filled with fear or pain. These eyes were furious, thoughtless. These eyes had vertical pupils that sharpened when they focused on her.

Only instinct allowed her to jump out of the way as he lunged at her, paws groping at the damp ground as she stumbled and tried to skitter away from him on all fours. A glance told her that he was already moving towards her, turning on all fours with his ears pinned back and his muzzle drawn in a snarl that was familiar but this time all too real. She let out a screech when he launched himself at her again – he was so much faster than normal! – and she could feel the scratch of his claws on her uniform leg before she was able to rip it away and dash out of the alley full tilt. Fear, for him as much as herself, rolled through her when she heard him give chase. She couldn’t take him back towards the cruiser, because that would put him in a populated area. Others would be in danger, and _he_ would be in danger if another officer showed up.

_Gotta save Nick. Gotta save myself!_

That last thought came when his shadow fell on her and only by stopping dead in her tracks to quickly backpedal on all fours did he miss her when he came crashing down on the exact spot she had been only a second before. The vicious snarl of rage when his muzzle skidded across the wet ground made it easy for her to decide to keep running, but this time in the opposite direction. She ran with everything she had, her breath screaming in her lungs as fear drove adrenaline through her system. And she could have sworn that she felt his breath on her neck with every step as she took them deeper into the forest.

 

* * *

 

 

The world was not right, and somehow he knew it. It frightened him, left him feeling vulnerable in the strange surroundings. And that fear of his own state of mind made the fox violent, instinct telling him to fight, to attack, to kill. The bunny that had rushed towards him had not helped, had not eased him. A prey animal taking advantage of his weakness, using the chance to finish him! The fact that it made no sense didn’t stop his reaction, and he showed the little female that he was not weak and helpless.

Now _she_ was the one on the run, bolting away from him as he gave chase through the underbrush. He could smell her fear, the scent of it driving his instinct to catch her. Consume her. A meal might ease the fear. Hot, salty blood on his tongue might calm his mind as he filled his belly. Saliva flooded his mouth with the thought. Or maybe because, as he chased her, he was aware of how appealing and delectable the scent of the rabbit was. Somehow it caused his already speeding heart to race faster, caused a tingle in his sheath that he didn’t understand or pay much attention to. His focus was still on catching her, and he came so close twice in a matter of seconds when she was forced to dodge a tree. His teeth snapped at her feet as she cut to the left, missing by inches even when he took the turn a little faster than she did. He heard the scream when his teeth grazed the odd blue fur that curved the curve of her rump close to her tail. But again she managed to gain her feet long enough to push away from him, this time with one of her rear paws pressed into his shoulder to launch herself into a little grove.

She had gained a bit of an advantage. As close to her as he had just been, her scent struck him full force when he had nipped her rear and it left him momentarily confused and dazed as it caused a surge of arousal and lust that had nothing at all to do with killing and eating. Still, he did not give up the chase after regaining his footing, and followed her into a small grove between two massive trees. Where he found her trapped. The unkempt undergrowth of vines was out of control here, attaching to the trees and wrapping around them to form a natural wall on one side, while the other two were cut off by a long drop to the river below. The only way she could go now was back through him, and from the trickle of fear in her scent he knew that she saw the same thing.

The savage satisfaction that he felt when he moved towards her did not ease his snarl when she tried to bolt around him, a step that he countered by easily leaping into her path. She backed away quickly, backed into the vines, and he had her! He tensed, muscles bunched and ready to leap, to end the hunt and her life. And when the leap came…

He stumbled with a yelp as something tangled with one of his front paws and caused him to crash muzzle first into a small patch of ferns. The howl of fury came when he saw the interloper: a strange fragment of cloth that was wound around his neck! First he snapped at it, long muzzle shooting down to try to get a hold of the tip of the odd annoyance, only to have the motions of his own head yank it out of reach each time. Enraged, he reached up and clawed at it with his front paws, twisting on the ground in a panic until he felt one claw hook on the underside of the knot. With a vicious yank, he pulled it free until the two tongues of the cloth serpent hung down either side of his chest. He realized it was still looped around his neck, and stuck inside of the blue cloth that he now realized was wrapped around his entire chest. Suddenly realizing that he was trapped inside of it, his panic continued as he dug his claws into the covering and tried to tear it away.

 

* * *

 

 

Judy watched the savage fox with a mixture of terror and fascination when he stumbled and started to rip at the tie that had caused the fall. And with his fur bristled and his hackles raised, started to attack his tie. Any other time, that might have been hilarious, and if she survived the day, she would tease him about it mercilessly. Now her nose twitched unceasingly as her eyes darted around while he was distracted, looking for a means of escape or at least a way to put a barrier between herself and the savage predator in front of her. Long ears perked high when she saw the gap in the vines a few feet over her head, figuring quickly that one high jump, and a vault off the tree would get her where she needed to be to…

The thought was cut off when she heard Nick snarl again, a harsh but almost frightened sound that made her wide eyes snap back to him just as he reared up on his knees. Her ears dropped back and her muzzle fell open slightly when he reached up, took a hold of the front of his shirt with fingers and claws. Buttons popped and went flying in every direction when he ripped it open, making her blink slowly when one of them managed to bounce off of her muzzle. The blink was the only reaction she gave for a moment as she stood in stunned silence as her savage partner continued to struggle with the shirt of his uniform for a moment before he managed to reach over his shoulders and grip the back. He pulled hard, the sound of the durable cloth ripping loudly causing her ears to twitch when he literally tore it over his head and flung it to the ground with a snarl. Then he lowered himself to the ground, and she could see the fluid muscles ripple under the orange and cream fur when he started to move towards her again.

Her heated riddled body reacted to the sight of him: on all fours, half naked, looking like a male whose fur was one fire with orange and yellows moving like licks of flame over his toned body as he stalked towards her. It caused a sudden flash of arousal through her, one that didn’t confuse her in the slightest. For months she had been fighting her attraction to him; to his sarcastic charm, his friendly attitude, the way he was always smiling when he looked at her…. And that body. God, it was so wrong for her to be thinking about how much stronger he looked since coming out of the academy, or how large his paws where when he set them on the earth one step at a time towards her. The way that he moved with that predatory and fluid grace caused tingles to race down her spine even as he growled again, his teeth bared in a way that showed her every pearly white tooth in his maw. It all reminded her of the day in the museum, where he had pretended to be exactly what he wasn’t pretending to be now. Only this time, when she looked into those green eyes with pupils that were narrowed to needle point, she knew it was real.

That understanding dawned on her when she realized exactly how much closer he had come to her now, his nostrils flaring visibly as he took in the scent of her. The scent of his prey, she thought, a thought which drove her to reach down to her duty belt finally as she pushed back against the trunk of the tree. The paw tranquilizer, or the Taser. Either one of them would…

Even before she could fully form the idea, the fox was on her. Her breath whooshed out of her lungs when she was shoved back against the tree by the sudden weight of those large paws on her chest, the Tranq-All that she had just started to pull from its holster sent flying as she looked up into the snarling face of her partner. She heard the scratch of his claws over her knife-vest, felt the heat of his breath, the vibration of his growl when he leaned closer to her.

“Oh, Nick,” she whispered, and closed her eyes as she turned her head to the side so she wouldn’t see the moment of death come. And even then, she had a foolish, romantic thought that he would somehow recognize her at the last minute. That he would know who she was, and how important he was to her. And mostly she wanted it because she didn’t want him to have to live with the fact that he had killed his partner in a savage rage that he had no control over. It was silly farm girl thoughts, and she felt the sting of tears in her eyes as she wished they were true even when she felt the press of his muzzle against her neck.

Then the hot, humid release of his breath as the growling slowed and eventually stopped. Keeping her eyes tightly closed, her breath coming in rapid pants and her nose twitched feverishly while she tried to understand why she wasn’t dead yet. She felt his breath again: the cool rush of air as he inhaled, followed a hot release that sank deep into her fur when he released the breath right against the side of her neck. And oh, _God_ , is made her shiver as a curl of lust shot right down into her belly and made her thighs clench. She dared to open her eyes even as she felt the heat between her thighs increase, turning to look at him… And found herself pinned by the savage green that stared back at her more effectively than the paws that held her.

“Nick,” she said, in a hopeful, breathless whisper when she saw that he wasn’t snarling. He wasn’t growling. He was watching her with what looked like intent concentration on his face as he lightly brushed his nose through the fur of her neck. Drew in another breath, sucking away the heat of the previous one; and she _missed_ it, craved it for almost the full second that it took him to release it again. Her knees weakened when he did, wobbled as she felt that tingle of desire slide right over her sex like a lover’s paw when that swath of heat caressed her skin.

She could still smell that morning’s sweet coffee on his breath, and beyond that, the scent of fox. The scent of flowers and the delicious scent of male that had tormented her from the moment he had pinned her to the mat that morning. Now with no eyes watching them but each other’s, she breathed him in just as he did her, and taking a risk, raised one silky paw to place it lightly over his larger one. When he flinched a little, when that wild uncertainty entered her eyes, she steeled herself and refused to move her paw away.

“Shh. It’s okay, Nick,” she said in a soothing whisper, letting her fingers lightly slide over his until she felt the claws that were currently pressed harmlessly into her chest. “It’s me. Judy. You don’t want to hurt me do you partner? That’s right.”

The last two words were drawn out when his claws retracted from her vest, the weight of his paw eased just slightly, and his muzzle returned to the surprisingly gentle exploration of her throat. Gentle, but insistent. She sighed as the fear started to ebb away, leaving her with only the problem of dealing with her own arousal.

_Stupid heat. Stupid body. Stupid, stupid bunny. Letting yourself get worked up in this situation. As if Nick would ever want to…_

Thought vanished in a wash of sensation when she felt the rasp of his tongue slide effortlessly over the fur of her throat, all the way up to the line of her jaw. The warmth, which left behind cooling tracks of dampness that caused her skin to tingle, vanished suddenly, prompting her to tilt her head back in hopes that he would do it again. The complete insanity of the action didn’t even occur to her at first, not until she felt the caress of his tongue again over her much too vulnerable throat. He could kill her, easily, and there would be nothing she could do to stop him. He just had to open his jaws, press his sharp teeth into her flesh, and…

A full body shudder overcame her when he licked from the hollow of her throat all the way up under her muzzle until she felt the tip of his tongue brush her lips. She lost the strength in her legs when she licked her lips, tasting the unusual and appealing flavor of fox even as he lapped at her throat again. She sank ever before she realized what was happening, her legs folding until she plopped onto the soft moss at the base of the tree with her back pressed into the trunk as that insistent tongue followed her. Part of her screamed to stop it, to wake up. She had a Taser still; just a few careful movements, then he would be unconscious but safe and she would be…

Would be…

Staring at him with lust glazed eyes as he dropped to all fours again. The idea of the Taser was forgotten when he backed away from her, looking confused. Uncomfortable as he kicked with his back legs, shaking them as he started to growl again. Confused, more than a little daze, half worried and half wanting his breath and his tongue back on her, the panting bunny watched him until he snarled and rolled over onto his back. She saw it then, the way his paws were shoving and clawing at his pants and the belt around his hips. She could hear the ripping when his claws latched onto his pants legs and tried to yank it off, saw the flash of blue cloth when he manages to tear a piece away and fling it to the side. She also saw the panic in his eyes, and heard the yelps as he pulled too hard, or his claws dug past the cloth in his panic to strike flesh. When she smelled blood, and panicked herself and without a single thought of the Taser or her own safety, scrambled towards the writhing fox on her paws and knees.

“Stop! Nick, please stop!” she cried when she came to a stop on her knees next to his head, causing him to snap his gaze to her with a low growl of warning from his position on his back. Frozen for a moment, but only for a moment, she gently ‘shh’ed him again as she reached towards him her paws meant to sooth him, to stop him as he tugged at his pants again. “It’s okay. I promise, it’s okay. Just relax. Just… Let me.”

Had she gone to him with the intention of doing exactly what she was about to do? She honestly didn’t know as she reached towards him, and even as he growled at her, she slipped her fingers down to his belly towards his belt. His growling came to a slow stop, and his gaze turned to watch the tiny paws work the buckle of the duty belt with a curiously tilted head. She saw him relax, watched as his legs and his paws dropped away as the buckle gave, and the belt fell to either side. Swallowing, trying to calm the hammering of a heart that wasn’t racing simply because of fear, she traced her fingers over the button. It amazed her how little hesitation she showed when she unbuttoned it, and it amazed her even more when she reached for the zipper and felt him throbbing against the front of his slacks.

The flush that ran from her toes to the tips of her high ears made her feel hot and itchy. And because there was no way to lie to herself about it, she didn’t deny that she knew exactly what she was doing when she cupped one paw over that throb. Felt the thickness of his cock through his pants, and felt the pulse quicken when she squeezed lightly, curiously. Longingly. Her ears twitched when she heard his rapid breathing and knew that she wasn’t the only one panting as she ran her paw down the length of him towards the base, and then slowly back up. She just wanted to feel the shape of it, and the heat of it through the layers of cloth between them, but it caused his hips to hunch forward as he released a low, guttural sound that was anything but angry.

“This _is_ what you want, isn’t it?” she whispered, quietly awed when she reached his zipper again. This time she pushed it down, ears flushing further at the sound it made, and was ridiculously pleased when the next throb caused him to spring free. A little tickle of amused frustration coursed through her when she realized that the red she was seeing was the color of his boxer shorts, which still covered the eagerly throbbing length. She decided that it was very male of him to be patient this once even in his current state of mind, and she glance back to find him watching her every movement with his muzzle slightly parted and his tongue poking out between his front teeth. It didn’t take much thought for her to slide both of her paws into the waistband of the boxers to peel them up and over the tip of his shaft, pushing them down his hips along with his pants. She released a heavy breath when she was greeted with the full sight of him, the sharp contrast of the reddish flesh against the cream color of his sheath and belly fur causing the tingle to become a mad flutter in her belly. And the scent of him. That purely male scent that made her quickly twitching nose flare as she shoved his pants and boxers down further his legs.

The heat was driving her mad now. Here was the fox she had wanted for so long, and it didn’t matter in the slightest to her body that he wasn’t a bunny. The sight of him, so hard and large, had her sex aching and her head spinning, the dampness of her crotch making her own uniform feel like it was strangling her. She abandoned his pants once they were down his hips, her paws meeting at the base of his shaft.

“Shh,” she whispered again when he gave a little grunt that didn’t quite make it to a growl and arched his hips upward. She released a half crazed giggle at the insanity of what she was doing. “I… Have no idea what I’m doing, actually, Nick. And I think I might regret it later. But right now…”

She wasn’t sure if it was her voice that calmed him, or the fact that she boldly stretched out over his chest and belly before nestling her softly furred cheek against the throbbing length of his cock. Her breaths came in hot huffs through her mouth and nose at once when she nuzzled him, and it felt amazing to just not give a damn as she parted her lips and ran her tongue all the way to the tip of that canine length. Eyes closed - tasting him for the first time and letting that all too male flavor soak into her – a low moan escaped her throat, a sound that mingled with the low growl of appreciation from the fox as her voice hummed against him. Following a pulse that caused him to thicken in her paws, she took the tip of him into her mouth, sliding him over her tongue eagerly while her lips pulled down over her large front teeth to form a seal around him. Tasting that first salty release of pre cum caused a shiver to slide through her and after her tongue swept over the tip again she swallowed with an eagerness that surprised her. The sensation warmed her belly and aided in the way her paws moved to stroke in opposition to her mouth as she sucked.

The bunny listened to the quickening of each panting breath he released, and even though she kept her eyes closed she could feel the weight of his gaze. The fact that she imagined he looked on her with as much lust and longing as she felt caused confused and intense emotions to rage through her. A range from feeling wanted by him as she had wanted all along, lost in her own feelings of lust and even the feeling that she was still the prey being hunted by the predator. How all three managed to blend together into a consommé that had her insides twisted up and her mind well beyond caring about anything but the fox under her and inside her mouth was a mystery. A beautiful, orange and cream colored mystery that was suddenly moving again.

She was forced to drag her head back, allowing him to slide free of her lips with a gasp for air that was full of the taste and scent of his arousal. Her tongue sliding over her bottom lip to lap up the clear drop of him left behind when she opened her eyes and turned her head to look over her shoulder at him. And found everything that she had imagined in the feral eyes looking back at her: all of the lust, all of the urgency that she felt, a heat that caused her to tremble as surely as the predatory hunger in green eyes did.

A whimper escaped her when he reached for her, the sound as primal as his gaze when she felt his touch on her. She didn’t shy away, didn’t think to run when large paws claimed her hips and dragged her towards him. A clear decision and unsteady paws on her duty belt – inches away from the Taser that could have stopped this – were her reply to the fact that his claws bit into the fabric of her pants. But the thought of stopping him, bringing any semblance of sanity into the situation, never came. Instead, she unbuckled the belt with a few quick movements of her paws and literally flung it away into the underbrush around them. She didn’t have a chance to help him with her slacks. Or maybe she didn’t have the strength to help when his paws did what they had intended to do all along, drag her towards his waiting muzzle.

The motion didn’t cause the reaction he might have wanted, in more ways than one. The fact that she was on her knees beside his shoulder combined with the pull made her lose her balance and fall onto her side beside him. She released a surprised laugh, and couldn’t help the giddy feeling that crawled over her when he simply rolled onto his side beside her and proceeded to drag her hips towards his muzzle again. Laughter and thought fled when she glanced down, violet eyes widening slightly and her ears dropping back when the fox ran his paws over her thighs slowly. If anything, he looked curious, and it took her a moment to realize that he was examining her pants. The touch of his pads even through the cloth caused her toes to curl, her tail to twitch, and when she saw his nostrils flare as his gaze tracked to the heat between her thighs, her sex clenched as the aching wetness increased.

The fact that she was in love with the fox didn’t even factor into what she was feeling now, at least not in an obvious way. It was a need just a savage as his own state of mind that had her raising one leg to give him access when he pushed his muzzle forward and nudged his nose between her thighs. The heavy breaths he took were so hot that she could feel them against her folds, and the strangled sound that escaped her when his nose brushed over the hood of her clit had nothing intelligent behind it. Panting, her dazed eyes rose over his sleek body until she saw the thick red length of aroused fox again. She jolted and cried out when his tongue slid between her thighs, the tingle of pleasure caused by the mocking almost-contact leaving her to debate whether she wanted to help him remove her pants or just crawl up until she could slide him into her muzzle again.

Her partner made the choice for her, as she felt the slide of his paws on her hips pause and tighten. She heard the scratch of claws over cloth only a breath before she heard the tearing, her wide eyes turned down to watch him use his claws to strip blue away from white and grey fur. He was aggressive, and as impatient as he had been with his own pants as he tore an opening and tossed aside shredded cloth with a ferocity that left her stunned and mostly aroused. She hadn’t felt his claws through the process, but the jerking of her hips as he laid her pussy bare to his questing muzzle made her want to feel more of that savage impatience. The same impatience that skittered through her as she did turn her attention to him, her paws raising to grip his hips and pull herself along his body. His muzzle followed her, as did his paws, and the insistent heat of his breath as he curled himself around to follow her scent so that they were lying on their sides in an erotic gray and orange Zin Yang.

She was only vaguely aware of her briefs suffering a swift and violent death at the paws of her partner as she tipped her head back and pressed a kiss to the tip of his shaft. Breathing in the scent of him just as eagerly as he did hers now that her sex was fully exposed, she slid her mouth over the hot flesh again without a second thought. This muffled her voice when his long muzzle finally nudged her thighs apart, and because he was obviously as interested in prolonging things as she was, she felt the warm slide of his tongue over the entrance to her sex. The shock of pleasure caused her to moan around his length, and the vibration of the moan caused the male to arch his hips forward, causing him to slide deeper into her muzzle. When she felt the nudge at the back of her throat, she swallowed hard, knowing that at any other time the sudden introduction of that much cock that suddenly would have annoyed more than aroused. As she was now, feeling that slick tongue delve into the heat of her sex again, she simply wrapped her arms around his hips and yanked him forward.

The resulting growl of pure primal pleasure went directly from his muzzle to her sex and had shockwaves of bliss rolling through her, a sensation that made it all too easy to ignore the ache it caused when he slid down her throat. She felt the hard mass of his knot nudge against her lips and nose, filling her next breath with the unfettered musk of fox. Remembering from the videos she had watched in the quiet of her bedroom at night, nights that had often ended with her finding release on her own with thoughts of this very fox vivid but sadly lacking the heat of this reality in her mind, she released his hips to wrap her silky paws around it. Even as her mind buckled under the sudden pleasure of the quick approaching orgasm, she squeezed tightly until she felt the heat of the pulsing flesh soak into the fur of her paws. The strangled growl from her new lover from between her thighs caused her heart to quicken, caused her thighs to tighten around his head even as that devilish tongue lapped at the juices that flowed freely. She managed a whimper through her nose as tiny lights flared to life behind her eyes along with a flush of warmth that caused her whole body to relax a moment before the climax crawled over her like liquid fire.

Crawled over and then suddenly erupted when Nick surged in her paws, pulsed in her throat before he released a throaty sound that was half moan and half pleased snarl. The sudden liquid heat in her throat sent a thrill through her, the near crazed thirst for him sated when she swallowed again and again. They both writhed like the lust crazed savages that they were as they came together, and through those moments of thoughtless bliss there was only sensation to guide her.

The need for air forced her to pull back from his still throbbing length, the trembling bunny gasping out moans between desperate gulps of air and thick swallows as his flavor lingered deliciously in her mouth. A few spurts of cum hit her square on her nose, causing it to twitch and wrinkle at the potent scent before she wrapped her lips around the tip and took the next eruption across her tongue. This fresh, hot taste of him causing a shudder to race through her as fresh arousal trickled through her. Her body wanted more than this, wanted him on top of her and inside of her, but she savored the act of pleasing him all the same until the pulsing slowed and the taste began to wane.

When she let him slide free of her lips finally, an action only allowed once she was sure that she had licked the remaining traces of cum from the tip, she allowed her head to flop onto the mossy ground. Trying to catch her breath, sorting through what thoughts began to gather as the euphoria was replaced with a warm glow of pleasure and fresh lingering arousal, she ran her paws over his hips slowly. She was just as aware of his breathing as her own now, not just because each breath was still a warm wash of heat over her bare sex, but because she enjoyed the quickness of it. The strain in it that rivaled her own. She looked down at her partner, who had his head resting on the inside of her thigh with his eyes halfway closed, looking like he had been run through the most pleasant ordeal of his life. She was pretty sure she looked the same. Except for the fact that she was a bunny, of course.

She shifted her other leg, sliding her rear paw down his back slowly to smooth the ruffled fur carefully and to just enjoy every inch of his body that she could reach. This included the thick fur of his belly, where her fingers were presently buried deep enough that she could feel the warmth of his skin beneath. A flutter returned to her belly when those still savage eyes rose to rest on her. Calmer now, lacking the rage that seemed to always be a part of going savage. A rage that had been replaced with lust and now a lingering hunger that had nothing to do with food.

“Nick,” she whispered softly, not knowing if he could understand her or if he would remember anything she said. She wasn’t sure if she wanted either to be true with what she was about to say, but she had to say something. “I need you to know, I… I hope you remember this, I hope you understand. Damn it, damn it, damn it! Dumb bunny! I can take down a rhino, but I can’t tell my partner that I’m in love with him!”

The jolt from her fox (when had she started thinking of him as ‘her fox’ anyway?) was sharp and sudden, like that first gasp for breath when surfacing from icy water. It was more a ripple of tension through him, the cause of which she was sure had to be her words. Nothing else had changed, nothing else had been said. But even though his head still rested on her inner thigh, his muzzle was facing her directly now and those emerald green eyes were focused on her with a new sort of intensity. She imagined that she could see a bit of Nick in there now; the Nick she knew was so focused and intelligent when he was serious about something. Even through those savage eyes, she wanted to think – to hope – that the new fire was there because he had understood her on some level.

“Nick? Can you understand... Ah! Nnnff!” Further attempts at intelligible words was impossible when his muzzle turned and dipped between her thighs again. The long drag of his slightly rough tongue from the mouth of her sensitive sex to the bud of her clit caused the leg over his back to clench and try to drag him closer; an action that garnered exactly the reaction she had been hoping for when the tongue returned again, the long and agile muscle sliding into her as she arched her hips to meet it. All other emotions and sensations aside, she needed this. Needed him inside of her in any way she could possibly get him there, and it was all she could do not to scream her pleasure into the forest around them as he feasted on her. Not exactly the response she had expected when, or if she had ever drummed up the courage to tell him her feelings, but she was beyond complaint. She was beyond _caring,_ and reached down to slide her paws over his ears so she could urge him on with softly whispered pleas. Not that he seemed to need to be urged to do a thing, with those feral green eyes locked on her as she started to tremble and that achingly hot pleasure started to rise again.

“Nooo,” she whimpered when he drew his muzzle away, letting her see her own juices dampening his muzzle and shining damply on his whiskers before his tongue curled up to lick them away. There was no mistaking the look of satisfaction that came when he did this, or maybe it came when she tried to use her grip on his ears to tug that evil mouth and miraculous tongue back between her thighs. She was instead left all but writhing on the ground when he drew away, all of him. Lust dazed eyes managed to follow his motions and be curious at the same time when he reached down and shoved his pants down until he could neatly kick them away. This gave her a moment where she wondered how much of Nick was now behind the vertical slits, before she caught sight of the fact that his arousal hadn’t gone away. It was a little strange to her that she could blush as deeply as she did when she caught sight of the thick canine flesh.

She wasn’t given time to think about it, before the low growl of the predator returned and she found her world spinning.

 

* * *

 

 

The words that he had never dreamed of hearing her say had jarred his mind even as they caused his chest to burn with something much deeper than simple lust. Her words up to that point had not meant much to him beyond a soothingly familiar voice; a voice attached to a face and sweet scent that had told him she was not his prey.

How far things had progressed beyond the understanding that she was _not_ food had started to satisfy some deep underlying need in him. The fox wanted her as his mate, that much he knew instantly. The alluring scent of her heat, so clear and appealing, pulled at his arousal until he found himself compelled to taste her. Just few licks at her throat, which she bared to him in a sign of trust that made his tail sway happily behind him. But knowing what she was, and what he was, told the male everything he needed to know in the end. She would reject him, as she should. She was so small, so vulnerable to him. How could he keep himself from hurting her if he even tried to let her know that he wanted her to be his? _Saw_ her as his. But what he needed, and what she would accept were two very different things.

The understanding had caused fury, but not at her. At nothing. At the cruel truth of their natures, the fact that he would never know the pleasure that her scent promised. It was a fury that he had taken out on the blue cloth that still covered his legs, a wild urge to destroy something to ease the longing causing him to pull and claw and tear until he felt the sting of those claws on his own flesh.

But she had come to him, to soothe him. To stop his rage with her soft voice and sweet words with no way of knowing that she was in part responsible for it. He had tried to warn her off, make her understand that he was a danger to her until the first touch of her small paws had brushed against the ache of his arousal. He had grown still and silent as the pleasure and longing rose with every passing second, expecting her to jerk away once she realized what she was touching. Excitement and pleasure soared when she _didn’t_ stop, when she _didn’t_ pull away even once his cock was freed from the annoying fabric that had confined it. From there, the fox had stopped dwelling on what was impossible between them and simply allowed himself to feel what was. And it was bliss. Pure, hot, unthinking pleasure that started with her hungry mouth and only grew more intense when he ripped away her own coverings to taste her himself.

Fair was fair, after all.

The blur of it became electric and explosive all at once, until she lay unmoving save for the quick pace of her breath and he rested with his cheek on her thigh while savoring the tang of her on his tongue and the scent of her release hot in his nose. Slowly awakening consciousness niggled his lack of control, but it was hard to listen when he watched her lick the tip of his cock clean with a look of such complete erotic pleasure written into every line of that beautiful face. Even less reason to listen was found when she started to pet him with her paws and her leg, the look of contentment mingled with lingering lust that she sent him making it hard to think that she was afraid; that she didn’t _want_ to be his.

When she started to speak, he didn’t fully understand her words. Sharp ears were perked towards her listened intently, knowing that he should have been able to understand them. The meaning of the sounds was right on the edge of his thoughts, but he couldn’t grasp them. Nick. Dumb bunny. Dumb bunny. No, she was his sly bunny, and he was the dumb fox. She was his partner. Judy. The taste on his tongue belonged to _Carrots._

“…I can’t even tell my partner that I’m in love with him!”

The fact that he understood the words had less meaning or impact than the words themselves. His heart knocked so hard against his chest that he felt actual pain and a moment of lightheadedness that caused his vision to swim for a moment. When it cleared, the first thing he saw was her face again. Vibrant amethyst eyes staring at him with worry and what he now understood was love, focusing his attention on her as a rush of emotion and passion swelled in him that made the need to understand unimportant compared to the need for more of what he had only just begun to taste.

To taste her again was the first thing he did, even without fully focused thought; he went with the impulse to nestle his mouth against the wet, pretty and swollen pink of her sex and slide his tongue over it even as she spoke again. Her reaction was beautiful, a combination of surprise and pleasure on the surface and a rush of fresh arousal that coated his tongue with the flavor of horny bunny when he lapped at her again. Eagerly searching for more, demanded more and found more demanded of him by the paws that gripped his ears to drag him deeper. She was delicious, hot, and gave him free access without the slightest touch of tentativeness in her actions as she spread her thighs further for him and whispered pleas that were as clear in tone as they were in meaning.

He decided that he was still at least half mad when he decided that the taste of her wasn’t enough anymore. So with one final lick, one that left her trembling so hard and whimpering so beautifully that he was certain she was about to cum again, the fox moved. Her drawn out whine of the single word pleased every dark part of him that enjoyed the power he suddenly found he had over her body. How much of that was the savage and how much the male that was slowly coming back into being was a question for later. For now, he rose to all fours, easily shoving the pants that had so completely perplexed him only minutes ago down his legs to be kicked aside without concern. The rabbit’s wanton, curious and pleading gaze followed him, spotted the aching flesh between his rear legs. He saw her tongue slide slowly over her bottom lip, and was finished.

He was on her so suddenly that she released a startled cry that was drowned out by the growl that rose in his chest. She was light, small, a deceptive thing that made her seem fragile when he knew very well that she was anything but. But her size made it easy for him to pick her up and flip her over onto her belly, drawing another cry from her before wide eyes were turned to look at him over her shoulder. Meeting the gaze as he crawled over her like a four-legged shadow, he narrowed his eyes as he allowed one paw to slide under her hips, dragging her naked rear up until her knees touched the ground. Understanding replaced the surprise on her face, replaced with a little sliver of fear for half a second before that too was replaced. The fire of lust and acceptance in her eyes, and the fact that her hips rose on the own made his cock throb in eager anticipation. It was all made even better with that cute little fluffy tail of hers hiked up and twitched jerkily above her ass. It was so unbearably sexy, that single motion, that he lost all capability for patience as he covered her.

When he did she pushed back against him almost immediately, her hips nudged against his until he found the length of his cock trapped between the warm, deliciously soft cheeks of her rear. The pleasure it caused had his breath coming out in huffed pants as the pleasure rolled through him when she gave a little grind back against him. He growled low in his throat, a sound that was intended to be a warning when he looked down at her. He was trying to control himself on some level, after all. But the sparkle in the corner of her eyes when she looked at him was playful, seductive even as she did nothing more in reply than flex her cheeks and press herself back against him in a way that made his own knees weaken.

“Come on, Nick,” he heard her whisper, her voice trembling as he watched her nibble on her lower lip through narrowed eyes. “Do it. We both want it; we both need…”

He cut her words off when he pressed one paw to the top of her head to pin her cheek to the mossy ground. Another long, deep warning growl released when he drew his hips back, leaned over her fully so he could slide his tongue wetly over the side of her neck. And maybe it was pure luck, simple desperation, or the way she lifted her hips to meet him that had him finding that hot little pussy without a single stumble. Whatever the case, instinct didn’t allow him to hesitate once he felt that amazing heat just begging for him to take it. Muscles tensed as his hips bucked forward, the almost painfully tight folds of her body sliding around him with a wet warmth of silky walls were forced to open for a shaft too large for it. The sound she made was somewhere between a shriek of pain and a blissful cry, a range of sensations that he shared when he realized that she had taken all of him save for the knot in one stroke. And she was _tightening_ around him, inner muscles rippling and squeezing around him as he watched her body tremble and convulse. There was a moment where he was worried that had broken her somehow before he realized that she was having an orgasm.

Savage glee filled him as he panted above her, savoring the way her sex tightened to seal around him, watching as her body trembled; watching the round, toned muscles of her bunny rear flex as her fingers dug furrows through the moss and soil on either side of her head. The cries continued beyond the pained, leaving only the gasping whines of pleasure as she rolled her hips back against him eagerly. The rich scent of her climax came a few breaths later, sweet and divine and mingled with his own scent. She was his, and while later clear thought might try to make him think otherwise, for the moment he just wallowed in the delightful lust of it.

Her lips were parted as she gasped for breath, her orgasm seeming to boil down slowly as she continued to twitch and squeeze around him. The groan of a sound that left him was pure pleasure when he drew his hips back, saw her eyes widen slightly as the thick inches slid wetly out of her, only to be thrust back in until he felt the heat of her sex kiss his knot again. The sensation drove him onward from then, and thinking became unimportant. All he needed to know what that his mate was pleased, his cock was wrapped in incredible heat, and he wanted to take her until they were both sated and drained.

His quick, hard pace promised nothing less, his muzzle twisted in a grimace as he bared his teeth. His gaze never left her, even as he struggled with the fact that his knot was being denied entrance into her; a fact that was made more than obvious by the building in his furred sac every time his knot slapped against her stretched folds. Even as she surprised him by bearing down and closing her eyes as another orgasm rolled through her, the rippling tightness only made the task seem all the more impossible. Frustration led him to increase the pace until it was only the fact that his claws dug into the ground that prevented them from sliding forward every time his hips met hers. And almost as if she recognized his need, maybe because of the throaty snarls that escaped him as the pleasure became an almost painful need, she bowed her hips up and back to meet him thrust for thrust. It didn’t make the process quick, even as wet as she was and hard as he was. He felt her body yield slowly, relax, flex and tighten again as he withdrew. They were both on the edge of desperation when he slammed his hips forward, her cry again filled with pain and pleasure when his hips fully meshed with hers.

The tight, silky heat that wrapped around his knot was all he needed. Desperate humps were unrestrained and mindless as the pleasure of having her wrapped around every inch of him set him right on the edge of the abyss. An abyss that he didn’t resist when he spilled over the edge, throbbed thickly inside of her, and lost his mind again when he came. It stole his breath so completely when the ache turned to pure bliss that he was blind when the first ropes of cum pumped into her quivering sex. He was vaguely aware that she came again when he did, and even as he ground and humped with needy release into her eager sex he found a delightful pride in the fact. _Again._

Still throbbing within her, tied with her, he was panting above her without motion save for the weak trembling of his arm as he held himself up. Eyes that were only partly open looked down at her, watching her. The look of complete, guiltless bliss on her face was one that he would remember as long as he lived. And was the only thing that prevented the swell of guilt from crushing him when he realized what he had just done to his partner.

The lingering edge of lust remained, that euphoric feeling of afterglow that wanted to make him forget, but the understanding of who he was and what he was doing to Carrots had him looking down at her. Uniform torn, fur mussed, smelling of sex and musk and impaled on a damned filthy fox. Because that was exactly how he felt, revolted with himself even as his body still enjoyed the lingering pleasure of being tied with her. He realized that he still held her head with one paw, fingers laced between her ears. Feeling her tremble, he relaxed his hold and gently slid his fingers over her fur even though at the moment he didn’t feel like he even deserved to look at her, much less touch her.

“Nick?” her voice drifted towards him, sounding sweet and lazy and too content for him to stand. “Are you… You?”

What was he supposed to say to her? She had confessed love, and he had just fucked her like a savage on the forest floor. His gaze swept her body, looking for anything. Any sign that he had hurt her beyond the obvious fact that he was _still inside of her._ He swallowed thickly.

“Yeah,” he said, feeling another tremble race through her when she heard his voice. “Carrots… Judy, I’m…”

“Amazing,” she groaned by way of finishing his sentence before he could continue, and as he stood there in a stunned trance, she rolled her hips back against him in a slow grind. Feeling that plush ass and the slick heat of her folds slide against him had his knot throbbing and his voice escaping in an uncontrollable moan. “I’m sorry, Nick.”

“You’re… What?” He was at a loss for words, in part because she didn’t seem in the least bit sorry when she turned her ears into his paws to encourage him to keep petting her.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, and this time actually sounded at least a little bit sorry when she folded her arms under her head and rested her cheek against them. One eye turned back to look at him. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you like this.”

Flabbergasted, he was only able to stare at her for a long moment with a muzzle that was partly dropped open. His brows drew together as he shook his head. “Wait, I’m the one on top of you, here.”

“Yes,” she said, keeping her eye on him. He felt the wiggle of her fluffy tail against his belly, and it made him want to grab her hips for no particular reason. That was a dangerous little tail. “And inside of me. Both of which feel amazingly good, by the way. But you were not you, and I let my heat get the best of me.”

“Uh,” was all he could manage for a long moment, blinking slowly as he tried to sort through his thoughts. His feelings. Neither of which was easy because he could swear that she was squeezing down on his length just to distract him now, and it made his body ache as he strained to resist the urge to buck his hips. She interrupted said sorting process as she continued.

“I mean, it was dangerous. You could have hurt yourself,” she said, and this time she actually did look remorseful as her eyes moved to stare at the ground for a moment in silence. “I had the Taser, after all. Which is… Somewhere.”

When she raised her head for a moment to look around for it, he joined her in the search. He saw her belt, about halfway across the little grove. A clear memory of her not only removing the belt, but literally flinging it and the Taser still strapped into it into the brush in her hurry came into his mind. He made a silent little ‘o’ with his mouth when he returned his gaze to her. She still looked so damned pleased, and at the moment even a little smug when that twinkling eye rose to him.

_Sly bunny._

“I see what you mean,” he said, and he did feel the guilt start to ebb. Sorting through the memories, scraping past the savage desires and hungers and confusion, he could remember only one moment where his intent had been to hurt her: when he had been actually chasing her. And that he would sort through later.

He lowered himself over her, and she didn’t utter a sound of complaint when he pressed some of his weight into her, the rest balanced on his elbows as he lowered his muzzle. Tentatively, still not entirely sure where they were going or what to expect, he pressed his nose to the back of her neck and closed his eyes as he breathed in her scent. A scent that was a little musky from the exertion, damp from the humid air, and so hot just because it was her. All the while, he tuned himself to any sudden tension, any sign that his presence wasn’t welcome. What he felt instead was a little shiver racing through her when he gave a testing little nibble along the underside of her muzzle. “I feel normal now. Well… I mean…”

“Aside from being balls deep in your partner?” she said, and released a startled little giggle at her own words as he watched a hot little blush ride up the length of the one ear he could see.

“I was going to be polite about it,” he groused, though there was no actual heat behind it with the flash of a long toothed grin at her. “But yes, aside from that. What do we do now?”

“First, we have to get you to a medic,” she began, and paused for a moment as she considered something else. Her ear twitched. “Scratch that. First we need to see if we can salvage our uniforms at all, and failing that we try to get some spares. Then we need to get you to a medic for a checkup. I’m not sure what that weasel hit you with.”

“Sounds fair,” he agreed, and just because she had been the one doing all of the teasing to this point, he pressed down into her with his hips. The motion caused his knot to grind upward and the full length of him to throb inside of her. Now it was his turn to be pleased with himself when he watched her eyes flutter for a moment before falling closed as a moan was torn from her. He was feeling more himself, and the smug smirk at her reaction came as naturally as if he were planning a simple hustle. “But I was talking more about this. I think it’s fair to say we’re not going to shake paws and go back to be good cop, better cop like nothing happened. I remember some very interesting things being said, very clearly. Let’s talk about that, Fluff.”

“Oh,” she managed to say, though he could tell that it wasn’t just the rise of pleasure or their joined bodies that made her pause. He could see the worry, the uncertainty in her gaze when it flicked back to him. “I wasn’t sure you’d understood that.”

“I’m fairly sure I have a clear memory of it,” he said, and leaned his muzzle down next to her ear. He breathed the next words in a low hum that caused her to shiver slightly. “Would you like me to repeat them back to you as I remember, or would you mind saying them again so I’m sure I heard you right?”

“I love you, Nick,” she said so quickly, so clearly that it was like a brand new punch to his heart. The complete lack of hesitation or waffling made him raise his head to stare down at her with wide eyes. “Not ‘you’re my best friend and I love you.’ In love. Stupid, lost, and hopelessly in love with you. And I know you don’t…”

He silenced her by sliding his paw under her cheek as he leaned over her, using the length of his body to set his arm next to hers, and rested his head on his paw until they were muzzle to muzzle. Her nose twitched as those beautiful eyes searched his expression as his thumb brushed over her lips in a moment of silence. A moment during which he realized they had not even kissed yet.

“I don’t what?” he asked, his gaze moving from her lips to meet her own. He felt her mouth part and gently slid his thumb claw over her bottom lip, causing her tongue to slide out instinctively to swipe over the tip of his finger.

“You don’t love me,” she managed to finish, and swallowed hard when the pad of his thumb brushed back to smooth the fur of her cheek. And the fact that suddenly even _she_ didn’t sound like she believed that made his muzzle curve in a slow smile.

“You _are_ a dumb bunny,” he murmured, and while he was tempted in that moment to kiss her when his gaze dropped to soft pink of her lips, he didn’t. He would wait for that, until there was nothing else to distract them from the pleasure it was sure to be, once they figured out how exactly a fox kissed a bunny. Not that the rest of their bodies had any difficulty figuring it out. “Take away the ‘don’t,’ and then say it again. Come on now.”

“You love me?” she managed to ask, and blinked at wetness that he saw fill her eyes when he nodded slowly.

“I love you,” he said, his eyes holding hers as he mimed her, with some minor alterations. “Not ‘you’re my best friend and I love you.’ In love. Brilliantly, consciously, hopefully in love with you. And I know you love me, too.”

The bubble of laughter that escaped her muzzle was a happy sound, the sort of happy that went beyond the physical pleasure and sexual need. And it was a hopeful sound to him, one that the fox carried with him just as he would carry the look of blissful contentment to get him through the hard times ahead.

Because even as the paths getting there changed, destiny had certain roads that could not be passed by.


	3. One Hundred Percent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick Wilde has lost his memory after an assault in the line of duty. But why does it seem that everyone is hiding something, rather than helping him remember?
> 
> Future fic.

** One-Hundred Percent - Part 1 **

****

** Day 1 **

    The fox was distinctly uncomfortable in the passenger side of the gray car as it pulled into another turn on the cliff side road that apparently led to their destination. He wasn’t sure what he expected, in all honestly. If the rabbit who drove the car in silence lived out here, it was no wonder he had decided to become a cop. The pay must have been amazing to afford such a lofty abode, with a view of Zootopia that would remind anyone of how magnificent the city was when seen from the outside. What he saw – what he remembered – was another reason to question what he had been told.  It was another example of how a fox like him would never reach the height promised by such a view; because of the city may have sparkled like a star when seen from a distance but it lost a great deal of its luster when seen from below. When seen through the eyes of those who lived on the streets, being thrown out of one business or another, being harassed by cops, watching mammals cross the street just to avoid being on the same sidewalk when he passed. That was the Zootopia he knew, the one he remembered.

    Not one where he was a  _cop._

    His disposition was not helped by the fact that his head ached the longer he kept his eyes open. Even the large, extra dark sunglasses that the hospital had provided him with before leaving were not helping to block out all of the ache caused by the perfectly clear and bright winter’s day. He leaned back in the seat, aware that the motion drew the attention of the rabbit again. Everything he did seemed to draw her attention. She was watching his every move with a twitching nose and eyes that were too intent and focused and… He couldn’t really read what he saw on her face, in the high set of her ears. He didn’t know enough about rabbits. But it didn’t take a genius to figure out that she didn’t trust him. He had seen the fox repellent she had worn with that tight little uniform, after all. He let his eyes fall closed.

     _“Officer, I’m afraid that we can’t know when his memory will begin to return, or if it ever will. In cases like this, it could be as simple as waiting a few days for something to trigger a memory. But you have to be prepared for the actuality that he may never regain them at all.”_

     _The throb in his head was dulled by the medication they had given him, and they clearly thought that he was asleep as they conversed just outside of the hospital room. He allowed them to continue thinking that, his eyes closed, his ears motionless but already directed towards the door. Why was the rabbit cop here, anyway? The last thing he remembered was… Was the naturalist’s club. She had gotten the information she needed from the chronically high alpaca, and he had followed the poor little mammal outside. But beyond that, nothing. He assumed they parted ways: her returning to being the best-darned meter maid she could, and him returning to the streets._

     _Why the idea made him so excruciatingly sad, he didn’t understand._

    The grind of gravel under the tires drew him back to the present and had him opening his eyes. It was an action that he didn’t want to regret, but did when the light lanced through the glasses, pierced his cornea, and seemed to focus on the back of his skull as an agonizing pain. The groan was unavoidable, quick and pained as he raised his paws to rest them on either side of his head. He nearly whimpered as the world around him swam slowly, his gut clenched and he felt the panic begin to rise when it just didn’t stop!

    The silky touch of a small paw on his forearm was felt, and the panic retreated. He kept his eyes closed, and didn’t pull away when soft fingers stroked down the length of his arm slowly. The fact that the touch felt knowing, felt  _good_ surprised him on every level. Only because it calmed his panic, and soon even the pain, prevented him from pulling away at first. He tilted his head forward, leaning forward to ease nausea that came with the pain and opened his eyes to stare at his own khaki-clad legs when the soft paw moved to his back.

    “It’s all right, partner,” came her soft voice, causing his eyes to close again when she called him partner again. It just sounded so alien to be called that by someone who clearly had nothing but distaste for foxes. “You can take some medicine once we’re inside. The doctors...”

    “Don’t call me that,” he interrupted, even though he knew that the pain and confusion were feeding his irritation. That didn’t stop him from shrugging his back away from her touch when the pain began to fade, and to his relief, she drew it back without complaint.

    Without… Anything. Without a word, without a sound, without a snippy remark or witty comeback, which she had proven to be almost as good at as he was. There was just silence in the car, except for the sound of his own breathing and the throbbing in his head. When he rolled his head enough to rest his gaze on her, he saw her looking down at her paws in silence. Paws that were twisted together, wringing against one another so hard that her arms trembled. Or maybe the tremble came from her shoulders, which shook a little when she drew in a breath that hitched at the end before she released it slowly.

    “The doctors said that the pain would fade,” she said in a soft voice when she raised her eyes to him again. “The light sensitivity is normal with a head injury like this, so it will help if we get you out of the sun and into a dim room.”

    Turning his gaze away from her, in part because he didn’t want to see the misery that was so plainly written on the cute little meter maid’s face. Knowing that he was somehow the cause, he squinted when he looked out of the window towards the house; or the entrance to the house, anyway. It was a DenHouse, with the entrance, a garage, and some windows visible from the outside while the majority of the home was underground. It was something of an oddity outside of BunnyBurrow, but if he was honest with himself, being underground away from the sun would be a blessed thing right now. Then the thought struck him that he had no idea what officer Hippity Hopps’ home life was like.

    “So,” he began in a slow drawl that came out a little drunker than he intended. “Is this where I meet the family? Again? You got a buck in there? Twenty or so kits waiting for mommy to get home? Am I called ‘Uncle Nick’ or something?”

    He heard the car door open on her side, and by the time he had turned his gaze to where she had been sitting, all he got was a fresh shot of pain when the door was slammed a lot harder than it needed to be.

** Day 2 **

    He was a cop.

    The pictures on the wall told the story, even if he couldn’t bring himself to believe it. A graduation ceremony, where the little bunny in a dress uniform – who was obviously no longer a meter maid, making him feel like a little bit of an ass for what he had told her a few days before. No. Not a few days before. He had to remember that – was pinning a shining brass shield to his crisp blue uniform on a bright day. Green eyes lingered for a long moment, seeing the smile on his muzzle as he puffed out his chest. He looked like a cheesy idiot, but a happy cheesy idiot. His gaze drifted to the selfie that he himself had taken from inside of what appeared to be a ZPD cruiser, capturing both him and the bunny as she rolled her eyes skyward from the driver’s seat. Newspaper clippings, the most striking of which was the framed front page report that was headlined “Heroic ZPD Officer Stops Plot Against City’s Predators” complete with a picture of her proudly standing beside him. He was even wearing the shirt and tie that he had been wearing the day they met, and the day after. The only slightly faded report under it started,  _“Officer Judith Hopps of the ZPD, with the help of local fox, Nicholas Wilde, uncovered a plot to turn Zootopia against the predator population…”_

     _“I, Nicholas Wilde…”_

    He turned his gaze away from the wall, walked over to the couch in the center of the living room, where a fire was going in the stone hearth. It cut the chill of the winter’s day and give the house the warm and welcome scent of burning oak. He sat comfortably on the L-shaped couch as he reached into the cardboard box that Hopps had brought him from his own house. It was filled with this and that, little pieces of his career. The yellow ceremonial shoulder cord he had worn at his graduation, some less impressive clippings. He drew the wooden framed case out of the box again and held it with a silent reverence for a moment. His name was engraved on a silver plaque at the bottom of the cover, and through the glass, he could see the  _medals_ of service from the ZPD _._ He knew what each one of them meant, even though he wasn’t sure how he knew, and what each one of them would be awarded to an officer for. One was The Cross of Valor, another The Purple Heart, and one for outstanding community service above and beyond.

     _“…promise to be brave, loyal, helpful…”_

    No memories came with any of it. And while a part of him, the same part of him that had wanted to be more than just a fox since he had been a kit, wanted it all to be true, he still couldn’t see it. It was like watching a TV show where the hero looked like him but wasn’t him. He saw himself in the pictures, and it was like looking into the eyes of a stranger. A stranger who was brave where he was a coward, who was strong where he was weak, a fox who wasn’t being held down by some stupid event in his childhood and had made something of himself. He saw his name on the case with the medals but didn’t feel like he had earned them. This wasn’t him. This wasn’t Nick Wilde, who’s only real accomplishment had been figuring out that he could cheat tiny rich mammals out of their money with a simple pawsicle scam that took advantage of the Size Variation Consideration laws in the food market.

    What had changed? What was different? Was it the bunny? The annoying ball of cuteness and fluff that he would have ditched a long time ago if she hadn’t managed to hustle him? The same bunny who carried around fox repellent had made insulting remarks about articulation and hadn’t batted an eyelash at the idea of forcing him to follow her around on some ridiculous otter hunt just because he had managed to outsmart the tax system.

    It was… Wrong. All of it. He should just pack it up, leave this nice little house outside of the city and get back to the life he knew. He could pick up the hustle again. His customers were sure to be glad to have their old vendor back at the end of a hot day in Savanna Central, and he was sure Finnick would still be around. He would just need some start up cash. Maybe the rabbit had something here. Some money stashed away, or something she wouldn’t notice was missing until he had…

     _“…and trustworthy.”_

    The fox sat silently in the living room of the house he didn’t know, staring down at the medals he didn’t remember earning, and thought of the life he wasn’t sure was his. And decided that if there was even the smallest chance that it was true, and that this was his life…

     _Trust. Integrity. Bravery._

    …That he would do anything to keep it.

** Day 15 **

    His fingers rested over the keys of the keyboard in the silent bedroom, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he tapped his thumb over the Spacebar without actually pressing it. He tried again.  _ZPD4life._ No.  _Carrotcake._ No.  _BunnyBorrow._ No.  _MeterMaid._ No. Rolling his eyes a bit, he tapped in  _tryeverything._ He was mildly surprised when the answer was again ‘The password is incorrect. Reset Password?’

    He frowned for a moment, considering the idea of seeing what her security question was before he dismissed it. Something about it all felt wrong, anyway. Sitting in her bedroom while she was off at work, doing the cop thing that he still couldn’t remember, trying to hack into her computer. If he called the sad attempts at guessing her password  _hacking_. He rolled his neck for a moment, feeling only the slightest ache in the back of his head from staring at the computer screen for so long. He only wanted to see if he could find some clues, some hints of what their partnership had been like. Case files, photos saved on the hard drive, E-mails. Anything he could find without telling her, so he didn’t feel that expectant gaze lingering on him as she waited to see if he would remember anything. His ears twitched, that ever present feeling of nervousness making him hyper alert. Sort of like a kit sneaking into his dad’s porn drawer while dad was away, expecting to get caught at any moment while looking at the pictures of naked bunnies; with their gray and white fur exposed, ears folded back in an adorably sexy way, thighs spread just enough so the…

    Wait, vixens. Where had bunnies come from?

    “Ugh,” he grumbled as he looked around the bedroom for a long moment in silence. He had been living in this house with her for too long already, spending too much time with her. It had become a routine. She would come home from work; they would carefully dance around each other without actually saying much. She would gently press him to reveal if he remembered anything, and he would say that he didn’t, which was the truth. Depending on how he was feeling, he would either share a meal with her on opposite sides of the couch over small talk about her day on the force – something that they both hoped might jog his memory – or he would deny and retreat into the guest room. He had found himself avoiding the second option the last two nights because even as she tried to hide it, she always looked a little sad when he turned her down.

    It was unnerving, the way the sight of her bright amethyst eyes losing just a bit of that light made him feel unhappy himself. Or the fact that when her ears trembled with the effort to keep them upright after he had snapped at her just the night before, he wanted to reach out and touch them. Still them. Soothe them. Finding himself wanting to comfort her when his mission only days before in his mind had been to tear her down and show her the reality of the world.

    His gaze drifted to the bed where he knew she slept every night. The uninteresting blue and white sheets, the fluffy pillows, the size of it. A little smirk crawled over his muzzle as he took in the oversized bed, which was more than large enough for multiple bunnies. This led him to think that she might have company now and then, a friendly romp with a buck or two maybe. He wasn’t even aware of the little twitch of his muzzle until he realized it had curled before he tamped down on the strange anger made him want to rush over to sniff the damned bed to prove his own wandering mind wrong. Why was he even thinking about these things? He was supposed to be looking for clues; something to help him find out why he was here, what he was supposed to be remembering that he couldn’t remember in his own damn house. Not worrying about whether or not Hopps brought home a boy bunny to play with now and then.

    Releasing an annoying 'tsk' at himself, he gave up on the computer and stood. Shoving his paws into his pockets and just stood there in silence, trying to remember… Something. His paws balled into fists, shaking with frustration when as usual nothing came.

     _“I’m not sure if it would be a good idea to tell him everything,” the conversation outside of his door continued. The slow beeping of the machines beside him combined with the drugs in his system was slowly lulling him to sleep, but he held it off as he tried to focus on the conversation. Not an easy task as the pain in his head throbbed and threatened to blind him again. What had happened again? The doctor said he had been… Hit? Someone had hit him from behind. He had enemies, but aside from Mr. Big, he couldn’t think of anyone who actually wanted him dead._

     _“But he doesn’t remember anything about the past three years,” came the softer, trembling voice of the bunny cop. His lips curved into a tired smile as he let his eyes slip closed. Bunnies were very emotional._

    “Oh, you bunnies. So emotional.”

    The words slipped out easily, a mumbled whisper that came with the shadow of memory. Was it a memory? He couldn’t focus on it, couldn’t grasp it fully. Hopps. No, Judy.

    No… Carrots.

    He felt such relief, such affection for her. For his friend, as she rubbed her paw over a tear streaked cheek and started to drag her feet as she moved towards him…

    And that was it. Four seconds of memory. Four seconds of memory that slowly went from shadowy and distant to clear as he focused on the details. The heat of the sun on his fur; the earthy, humid smell under the bridge mixed with the scent of rabbit, familiar and warm in his nose; the look of hope on her face when she wiped her own tears away, wearing blue jeans and a candy plaid shirt that made her look every bit the carrot farmer he had teased her about being. And the carrot pen in his paw.

    The pen. He stared down at his empty paw pad for a moment, as if he expected it to be there again. Where was the pen? Why had he been holding it? Had she given it to him, let him off the hook in the end? Was that why she had been crying? He hadn’t seen her wear it on her uniform when she left for work every morning, so maybe he still had it. The box! Maybe he had missed something.

    Starting towards the door to the bedroom, he paused when his eyes grazed over the side table beside the bed. Walking over to it hesitantly, feeling an odd little kick in his heart that made his ears fall back as he reached out. His fingers closed on the tiny brass knob of the drawer, feeling the cool metal as something like dread tried to crawl over him before he pulled it open and leaned over to peek inside. It was surprisingly empty. A notepad, a black comb with a few strands of loose gray fur stick in the teeth, and the bright orange and green of the toy-like carrot pen. He picked it up with his thumb and forefinger gingerly, examining it for a moment as he considered the idea that it might not even be the same pen at all. But it was a recorder, with a clever little button on the side just right for tricking over confident foxes into helping sly little bunnies. He pushed the button and listened to his own voice come out of the speaker on the side.

     _“Of course I do, one-hundred percent.”_

** Day 21 **

    Playback number… Something. It was likely in the hundreds, at least. Trying to glean some small flash of memory from the words, some event to tie them to. Maybe a case they had worked on, or just some offhand comment; a promise he had made, or a joke; talk about loving his mother even crossed his mind, or an invitation back to meet her parents – the parents that had seemed delighted, if a little nervous, to speak to him over MuzzleTime on her phone a few nights before – or any number of things. But eventually, he had given up on trying to understand what the words meant. Now he just listened to them in hopes that they would trigger a memory.

     _Click._

     _“Of course I do, one-hundred percent.”_

     _Click._

     _“Of course I do, one-hundred percent.”_

     _Click._

    A small paw came to rest over his with a surprisingly strong grip on his thumb, preventing him from playing it back again. With a weary sigh, he rolled his eyes towards the tiny bat-eared fox sitting on the stool beside him, one dark brow quirked as he tugged his paw away.

    “Give it a rest, Nick,” the always surprisingly deep voice came before the smaller mammal took a sip of his beer, sharply eyeing the carrot pen with annoyance. “You’ve played that back forty-seven times since we sat down, fox. Did you bring me here to torture me or something?”

    “Sorry,” Nick said, though his tone came through just as sarcastic as the apology was. “I’m still trying to remember my life for the past three years. Did you want to talk about your feelings or something, Fin?”

    “Fuck you, man,” the smaller fox grumbled, taking another pull from the bottle before he reached up to set it on the bar-top. Nick watched as he turned in his stood to face him. Like himself – wearing his hustling outfit of khakis, a yellow shirt and striped tie to make himself seem harmless – Finnick was wearing the same old outfit; the black and red bowling shirt, shorts, and a scowl. All of which Nick was convinced he had dozens of stashed away in his van, including the scowl.  “Look, you said the doc warned you that it could be months or even years before most of it came back. It’s only been a few weeks. Ever think that sitting there listening to the same thing over and over again is messin’ with your head?”

    “Yes, because my head is in perfect order as it is,” he snapped back, his ears falling flat as he turned his back on the bar and leaned back against it. Being in a bar wasn’t really helping him. He couldn’t even drink for at least another month, according to the good Doctor Staghorn. Not that he had ever been a heavy drinker, to begin with, but something to do other than staring at the bar would be nice. He shook his head with a sigh and raised one paw to rub his eyes. “Sorry, sorry. I’m not even supposed to be out here, you know. I was feeling like I was under house arrest. It’s been three weeks, and all I have it this tiny memory, a box full of awards and pictures that belong to some fox that I don’t even remember. And I’m living in the same house with a bunny who looks at me like she’s hoping I’ll just suddenly remember everything at any minute. That her partner would be back, and we could go back to playing cops and robbers when I feel like I  _am_ the robber!”

    “Yeah, it’s gotta be real rough,” he heard Finnick say with a slow sigh before Nick felt the surprisingly painful smack of a fist against his bicep that caused him to wince away. “I know you’re not that stupid, fox. Yeah, three years is a long time, I get it. So what? Now you think the best move is to pick up a life you already left behind instead of trying to get the one you’re missing back?”

    He grunted slightly, looking down at the orange and green pen in his paw in silence for a few seconds before he shrugged slightly. “Nah. You’ve moved on, right? Not like I can find another grouchy old fox to dress up like a cutesy little baby to hustle lemmings out of a few bucks.”

    “Yeah. And you were real cute in your uniform up on stage, looking at that bunny like she was…”

    Nick glanced back at him when the bat-ears fox paused, his brow creasing a bit as he tried to fill in the blanks himself while his friend took a drink while looking uncomfortable. Like she was… What? His friend? His partner? What else could she possibly be?

     _“Your relationship with Officer Wilde is unique,” he heard the doctor say, in a voice that was obviously trying to soothe while remaining professional. Distant now, growing dim as the blackness started to cloud his eyes even when he forced them open. Relationship? He strained to focus, strained to hear more. “Imagine yourself in his place, seeing the world before you became partners. This has to be treated very delicately, or he may reject memories that he believes are impossible. Maybe even run from them.”_

    “Nick? Nick, you still with me in there?”

    The sound of his friend’s voice drew him back into the bar, and once there he realized that his paw was clenched so hard that he could feel the bite of his claws in his palm pad. He released the grip and shook his paw out a few times to ease the mild sting before he turned to lean against the bar again. Glancing over, he noticed the vixen at the other end of the bar giving him the once over. Then the twice over, as a little smile curved her attractive muzzle when she seemed to like what she saw.

    “Yeah, I’m still with you,” he muttered and giving the vixen a one over himself. Slender, pretty, smoothly groomed with just the right amount of fluff around her neck to make a male want to bury his nose in it and take a deep, deep breath. Her dress wasn’t overly revealing, while still showing enough that he could see the cream color that blended with the shocking red when she crossed her legs. It wasn’t soft gray or silky white. Her scent wouldn’t be sweet enough to make his mouth water.

    Why was he thinking  _that_?

    “You know, maybe you’re right. I do need to relax. Have a little fun.” That said he drew himself away from the bar and reached over to give Finnick a friendly pat on the shoulder. He tipped his muzzle towards the vixen, who was still eyeing him while she sipped at a fizzy pink drink with her narrow muzzle. “And she looks like she could be all kinds of fun.”

    “Nick, what?” the smaller fox said, sitting up straighter as those large ears dropped back fully and a look of near panic came over him. “That’s… Nick, I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, fox. Maybe you shouldn’t be screwin' around. So soon after leaving the hospital, I mean.”

    “Clean bill of health, except what’s up here,” Nick said, and reached up to tap the side of his head even as he crossed the bar towards the vixen, who sat up a little straighter and put on a pretty smile just for him. Sliding in to lean against the bar beside her, he reached up to give the knot of his tie a little wiggle upward as he put on a thousand-watt grin. “And that’s why I think you, my dear, may be exactly what I am looking for.”

    “Yeah?” she said, in a voice that was every bit as satiny as he had hoped it would be. He followed her muzzle with his eyes when she parted it, seeing just the pink tip of her tongue before she took a slow sip of her drink. A tease, but not an obvious one. He liked a lady with a little class, a little charm of her own. “And what exactly are you looking for?”

    “Well,” he said and leaned in a little closer to her. His grin grew a bit when she reached up with one paw and lightly toyed with the collar of his shirt. His nostrils flared just a bit as he took a slow and silent breath of her scent. Not too obvious, but obvious enough for her to lean into him as well. Charming dialog fled his mind when he realized that he had no reaction to the spice of her scent. No rise of excitement. None of the thrill of the chase, the anticipation of verbal sparring followed by a pleasant night pressed fur to fur and flesh to flesh with the beauty in front of him. Nothing. He felt nothing. He wasn’t a fox who ran after every vixen he saw, but when one caught his eye he was always excited no matter the outcome. But everything that came to mind felt more like banter he would rehearse and deliver. An actor in a play, and one that wasn’t even really into the part.

    Even knowing that her eyes were on him, waiting for his reply, he licked his lips and tried again. Deep breath, inhale, savor, exhale. Faint perfume, the natural spice of subtle feminine musk. It wasn’t sweet enough, wasn’t earthy enough. It just… Wasn’t enough. Something was  _missing._

    “I’m sorry,” he said at last, and though she looked a bit crestfallen when he stood and drew away from her, she didn’t seem overly angry. “I’m not myself right now. Maybe another time, beautiful.”

    Turning quickly, he made his way back over to Finnick and simply leaned against the bar as his friend took another drink of his beer. Staring down at the carrot pen that had found its way back into his paw, he pressed the button again.

     _Click_

     _“Of course I do, one-hundred percent.”_

** Day 22 **

    The morning sun was too damned bright when he stepped out of the cab, a little sway in his step. The zebra cabby grumbled a halfhearted thanks to the acceptable tip he had been given before he drove off. Nick gave a cheerful wave, a click of his tongue and a thumbs up before he wobbled his way towards the front door of the house. A door which was quickly swung open as he stumbled towards it, and he blinked against the light – which was still too damned bright – to see the bunny rushing towards him with a worried look on her face.

    “Nick, where have you been?” she demanded and frowned when she stopped in front of him and gave him a once over. No doubt taking note of the fact that his tie was not actually tied, his shirt was half unbuttoned, and he may have unbuttoned his pants at some point so they hung low over his hips. His muzzle was split by a huge smile that showed a great many teeth when the inside of her ears went pinker just before they dropped back. “You’re a mess. And you’re drunk! Have you lost your mind?”

    Even as drunk as he was, he could see the instant regret that came with the last part of her questioning. But he didn’t care. She was adorable. Wearing faded jeans and a dark blue T-shirt that had ZPD in gold letters across the front and might have been more than a few sizes too big for her. Taking a step closer to her while managing not to wobble, he placed his paw on top of her head for a good fur ruffling before he stumbled past her and into the house.

    “Obviously I’ve lost my mind, Officer Hopps,” he said, and a bubble of laughter to escape him once he was through the front door. “A lot of it anyway. I just have to find it. Did you know… Oh, hello.”

    Having spun around to tell his grand revelation, he found himself closer to her than either of them had expected. Her muzzle almost touched his chest in fact, before she lifted her head to look up at him with a quickly twitching nose and a flush in her ears that were now high again. There was a subtle change in her scent almost immediately; one that had a mind confused by liquor and lack of memory to attach it to wasn’t able to identify. A sweetness. Mild, earthy sweetness that had him lowering his muzzle towards her almost on instinct so he could maybe just… Get a better whiff.

    Then the twitching nose of the bunny paused. He blinked in confusion when she reached out to snatch one tip of his collar, making him yelp slightly when she almost made him fall as she yanked him down and sniffed deeply at the fabric. He blinked at her when she let the paw slide away easily, looking down at her with only slightly watery vision. Or maybe it wasn’t his vision that was watery: maybe it was the shimmer of tears in eyes that… Oh god, the agony in them made his head jerk back. Seeing her look at him as though he had betrayed her through a haze of tears burned through a great deal of his drunken stupor if only for a second.

    “Judy, no no, don’t c…” was about all he got out before he felt the slam of her tiny fist in his gut. Later he would give her credit for having the restraint not to slap him and jiggle his already mangled brain further. But at the moment all he could manage was not to fall over completely, dropping to his knees with one paw catching him to hold him upright as the other went to his roiling guts. The pain of the blow was minor, but the lack of breath and nausea it caused left him sitting there, only able to raise his head enough to watch her storm into her bedroom. She slammed the door with enough force that he heard something fall off the walls and shatter on the ground before he groaned and lowered his head to stop himself from losing what little there was in his stomach on the floor. As he struggled, his muzzle dipped close to his chest to center his vision, he detected a faint scent. A scent that his mind quickly decided was the reason for her violent reaction.

    The lingering scent of the vixen.

** Day 23 **

    That morning was the most frightening he could remember since being told that he was missing three years of his life.

    After staying locked in her room for the entire day and subjecting him to the sound of on and off crying sessions – every one of which made him feel like a disgusting troll when he didn’t even understand  _why –_ she changed the routine that he had gotten used to over the last three weeks. She always woke him up before she left for work, just to make sure that he was all right. Doctor Staghorn had told them two weeks ago that it was fine now; that there was no reason to wake him because there was no longer a significant risk of clotting. But she had continued the familiar ritual, and he had never complained even when the night creature, that he was, wanted to.

    But this morning, he woke around noon. Woke to a silence so complete that his mind could only come up with one explanation. The change was so sudden and painful that he listened to the absolute silence of the house for a long moment, certain that something had to be wrong. Something that had him dragging himself out of bed in his boxers and calling her name into the silence of the house. When his own voice was his only reply, he ran immediately to her bedroom and went inside without a thought as to why. He only felt the fear that she had left him.

    She couldn’t be gone. She wouldn’t have just left without a word! They had to talk about it, fight it out, fucking yell and scream until their throat hurt and their muzzles ached but she couldn’t just  _leave him!_

    “ _Judy!”_

    The sound of his own anguished cry reverberating through the small room sounded alien to his ears, and when his eyes met the eyes of the fox in the mirror… He didn’t recognize them. The stark fear and desperation that shone back at him were nothing like the Nick Wilde he remembered. There was a need in those eyes, a need that even through his fear of losing the rabbit had him walking towards the mirror and staring at himself. The illusion lasted for only a few seconds, but for just a moment he had been looking at the same fox who had been so proud of the new badge that the bunny pinned to his chest. The same fox that had earned the commendations and medals. The  _good_ fox that he had always wanted to be.

    And a fox that was terrified that he would never see the sparkle of beautiful violet eyes again.

    He took a calming breath when he realized he was looking at his own reflection, not some shadow of the past. Once he was able to tear his gaze away, he started to think. If she had left she would have packed clothes, and if she were leaving for good she would have taken all of them. Ears forced to stand erect, he stalked over to the closet and threw it open. Neatly hung clothes in her size were on one side, while the other side remained bare. Bare, but without empty hangers that may have indicated her taking anything. At the bottom of the closet, he saw empty suitcases; more of them than anyone bunny would need, but no space for one to be missing. He already knew that if he checked the bathroom that her toiletries would be there, toothbrush in place and freshly used, maybe a little soap dispenser by the sink, fur conditioner in the shower. Of course. She was at work. It was Tuesday, and she always worked Tuesday. She hadn’t woken him up, and the change in pattern had confused him. But it was fine. Everything was fine.

    With a sigh, he surrendered to the trembling of his muscles as the adrenaline wore off and sat on the edge of the bed, letting his head rest in his paws for a long moment as he breathed in and out deeply. Trying to make sense of the panic, wonder why in the hell he thought that she would have left her own house instead of just kicking the rotten to the core fox out. It wasn’t like his memory was returning by being here. Obviously, the idea that staying with his partner would help his memory return wasn’t panning out the way it was supposed to.

    Drawing in a deep breath that was intended to be a calming sigh, he paused when he realized the scent he was breathing was…

     _Sweet. Earthy._

    Turning to look at the sheets on the bed for a long moment as he drew in another breath, one paw stretched out to slide over the silky sheets. Cool silk met his pads as he smoothed his palm down…

     _…fur as soft as warm silk. Beautiful gray blending with white where her waist met her belly, writhing under him as he…_

    ... rolled onto the bed, bringing the edge of the sheets to his nose to draw in the scent of her. Not the same as when he smelled her from a distance when she was clean and in uniform. Or from across the table while they ate, or even in the car. This scent was…

     _...the warm and appealing musk of rabbit. The scent filling his every breath as he nibbled his way along her shoulder and up into the softly humming fur of her throat until he…_

    …lost himself in the comfort that the scent brought him. He groaned into the sheets. The sound was not sexual, even if the memory that flickered through his mind was. The scent just made him so amazingly happy, calmed every nerve, made him want to wallow in it. How had he missed this? His…

    … _tongue grazing the bare fur of her chest as a quicksilver thrill of need and love shot through him. The taste of her was just as appealing as the scent. The way she whispered his name…_

    Another short memory, but it was something. He focused on it again, repeated it over and over again in his mind. He didn’t need to remember the scent of her, he realized. Or the feel of her fur under his paws. Or the taste of her on his tongue. All of that was a fact in his mind already, and the memory had simply awakened that reality. Just the visual, the sounds of her voice, the motions themselves as they had writhed together on this very bed. No sexual pleasure came from it the memories; just the thrill and the pain of remembering as he hugged her pillow close to him and wondered how long it had lasted. How long had she been his lover? When had it ended?

    She would have told him if they were still lovers after all. There was no sign of it in the house, nothing of his that was outside of the box. No pictures of them together out of uniform, no scent of him in the bed except for what he left there now. He must have done something to end it. Something stupid, something that only a fox foolish enough to come home smelling like a vixen could have done. Maybe someday he would remember and would be able to apologize for; then there would be a chance to make amends and get the same warmth and happiness he had felt in the memory back into his life. For now, curled up on her bed with her pillow hugged close to his chest and his nose buried in the scent of her, he understood why he had not been interested in the vixen at the bar:

    He was in love with Judith Hopps.

 **One Hundred Percent - Part 2**  
-  
**Day 30**

    She made an art form of avoiding him. If his life were normal, it might have been impressive and praiseworthy. She was always gone before he woke up, always managed to slip into the house late when he wasn’t looking. Not that he waited up for her, not that he stood by the window and wondered why her shifts were twice as long now; wondered why she never left her room or joined him for meals anymore. They weren’t in a relationship now, of that much he was certain. He had looked through the box again, paid extra close attention to every picture on her wall, checked drawers, dressers. He was beyond feeling bad enough rummaging through her house, mostly because he just needed to know the truth, and partly because he was sure that she had to know about it by now. There was no way she had not noticed his scent in her bed, yet she had said nothing. Simply remained locked away, silent aside from the occasional shuffle of paws across carpet or the sound of her shower running.

    He tried to wait her out. He even left her little notes on the door, inside and out, telling her that he wanted to talk to her. But they remained unanswered. And every day that he was ignored, his heart sank a little lower. And every dip in his chest was followed by anger.  _He_ was the one who couldn’t remember anything beyond random flashes of memory that were too damned short to be helpful.  _He_ was the one whose head had been bashed in for a job that he couldn’t even remember so that he was forced to live with a damned rabbit that didn’t want anything to do with him!

    He thought of leaving, going home, but couldn’t even find his home address because it always pointed back to her. Which confused him further, and the confusion only made him angry all over again. What kind of game did she think she was playing with him, anyway? So he’d smelled like a vixen, so what? He hadn’t even done anything with her, and even if he had spent the night with her in some seedy hotel just to blow off some steam and finally have some fucking relaxation in his life, so what? They obviously weren’t anything anymore, if they ever had been. He had not dismissed the possibility that it had been a one-time thing for her, a quick roll with a fox just to find out what it was like.

    Which brought him back to being confused,  _again,_ because if that was the case why was she so angry?

    He heard the shower turn off, again. For the past seven days, he had heard that sound, waited quietly in front of the TV in the hopes that she would come out and maybe even glance in his direction to show that she gave even a little bit a damn about him. Nothing. Again. Just a few silent footfalls, the sound of her crawling into bed, and then nothing again. His paw tightened on the carrot pen he held until he felt the plastic start to groan in protest, a paw that shook when he relaxed his grip enough to slide it into his pocket as he stood.

    He considered doing a lot of things. A lot of them were stupid ideas, and he knew it. The first to come and easiest to dismiss was the fleeting idea to go out and find a vixen, take her to bed and give the damned rabbit something to be mad about at least. And after nearly punching himself for the thought, which he knew was just mean and spiteful, he pushed aside ideas of finding Finnick again to vent on, calling his mother, just going for a walk, and calling the ZPD to get his home address so he could leave. All of the thoughts fluttered away when he realized that he was standing at her door with one paw raised, and before he could gain control of the rage of confused pain that had brought him here, he pounded it into the door three times quickly.

    “Judy, we need to talk, damn it!” He didn’t even try to keep his tone even, knowing that it was far too late for her not to see that she was getting to him.

    “Just go away, Nick,” came the reply, and as angry as he was it still caused a needle of pain to hear it. It didn’t sound angry. It sounded distant, pained and resigned.

    Hearing the spirited Officer Hopps use such a tone pissed him right the fuck off.

    Not even sure what the anger was directed at, it surged through him so intensely that it caused his fur to bristle and his lips to draw back from his teeth. The next thing he knew, he had planted his foot in the door with enough force to break the frame and sent the door exploding inward. He wasn’t sure who was more stunned by the action in that moment; the slack-jawed bunny sitting in the bed - looking far too appealing in the pink spaghetti strap nighty and blue underwear, which were perfectly visible since she wore nothing else below the waist – or himself. He had just kicked her damned door in like some madman! What was  _wrong_ with him?

    Even that thought didn’t stop him from storming across the room towards her, watching as the shock melted from her face and turned into anger of her own. Instead of backing down, she stood where she was on the bed, which put them very close to eye level when he stopped beside the bed.

    “Look what you did to the door! Have you lost your mind, Nicholas Wilde?” she demanded, her voice raised as she jabbed her finger into his chest with enough force to make him rock back.

    “If you keep asking that question, Hopps, it’s only going to piss me off even more,” he said, his ears pinned back as he fixed green eyes on her burning amethyst. He poked her in the chest in turn, which made her eyes narrow on him. “I haven’t seen you for seven days! You haven’t said a word to me, haven’t even bothered to acknowledge my notes or the fact that even exist in this house other than to make damned sure that I never lay eyes on you! For all you know, I could remember everything and you wouldn’t even know,  _partner!”_

    Her eyes remained narrowed, and even as angry as he was he saw the flare of her nostrils when she slapped his paw away. “Have you?” she demanded, though something in her tone told him that she already knew the answer.

    “Well, no…”

    “Of course you haven’t!” she cut him off with a scream that made his ears ache. He saw the tears in her eyes as clearly as he heard them in her voice just before they spilled over. “Because if you remembered anything, you wouldn’t have fucked some vixen while I sat here worried half to death about you,  _partner!”_

    “That never happened!” he shouted back and had the satisfaction of seeing her next reply deflate in a rush of breath even as the tears trickled through the gray fur of her cheeks. He resisted the urge to reach forward and brush them away. A surprisingly easy thing to do, considering the anger that still bubbled through him. “And even if it did, what does it matter to you? We’re not dating, right? There’s nothing in this house to indicate it, and  _you_ certainly haven’t given me any sign otherwise. I mean, there would be something, wouldn’t…”

    Stopping when she wrapped her arms around her stomach and looked away, he stared at her for a long moment as some realizations struck at the same moment. First, the room still smelled like him. Not the fresh scent that had followed him into the room, but the lingering musk that he had left all over her bed. All over the sheets and the pillows that he had very literally wallowed in. The sheets that were still on the bed, the pillow that she had been leaning against, the blanket she covered herself in at night when she slept. There was no way she wasn’t aware of it.

    “Judy, why haven’t you asked me to leave?” he asked numbly, ears perking towards her as he raised his eyes from the stray strands of orange fur he saw on the sheets. She refused to meet his gaze.

    “I don’t want you to leave, Nick,” she said, her voice quiet and resigned as she turned and sat in the center of the bed. He felt a little hitch in his chest, then a knock as his heart rate increased when she dragged the pillow close to her chest and hugged it there. He knew he had marked the pillow, that the scent wouldn’t fade for a good long while. And she squeezed it close when she finally met his gaze. “I told you to stay until you had your memory back, and I…”

    “No, not the house,” he cut her off with an impatient wave of his paw. He pointed at the ground under his feet with both forefingers. “Here. Your bedroom. You haven’t told me to leave, even though you’re half naked and I’m a  _fox._ A fox in a bunny’s bedroom. And all you think to say when you see me charging towards you in a fury is ‘Look what you did to the door’?”

    “Nick,” she began, then paused as he watched her swallowed thickly. She sniffled once and shook her head when she buried her face into the pillow.

    “Don’t,” he all but growled as he climbed onto the bed on all fours and closed the distance between them. It touched and shocked him down to his core that she didn’t look in the least bit afraid as he came over her, stripped the pillow away to take her wrists in his paws. If anything, those wide eyes looking up at him with a sadness and a craving. A craving that sharpened when he shoved her back into the mattress and pinned her body under his. He wasn’t even shy about it, for God’s sake. He was pressed full length into her, his muzzle only slightly more than an inch from hers as he felt the heat of her nearly naked body soaking through his clothes and into his fur until he felt a twitch in his sheath that came with the rise of arousal. “Don’t lie to me. Why aren’t you screaming for help, or even trying to stop me? Why did that vixen smell so wrong to me that I couldn’t even find her attractive, but I wallowed in your scent and this bed for half a day because it made me feel happy? Why does this, all of this right now, feel right? Why do I feel like I  _belong here_?”

    “Because you do,” she replied in a voice that was so soft that he could hardly make out the words. Not that the words mattered much anymore when she angled her muzzle up and pressed her mouth to his.

    The warmth of the touch drained the strength from him, and his fingers relaxed around her wrists until she pulled the free. Rather than try to push him away, she wrapped her arms around his neck to drag him deeper into the kiss with an eagerness that spoke volumes about how much she wanted it. All he could taste was bunny, and in those first few seconds of the kiss, he knew why the vixen would never have measured up. She was so sweet, like nothing he had experienced before. Subtle flavors exciting something primal in him when he parted his muzzle, deepening the kiss with a touch of his tongue against her smaller one in a slick dance that had his paws bunching into the sheets. He felt as if he had done this a thousand times, and he knew how to kiss her until she whimpered a sigh into his mouth with a needy little squirm. He felt her thighs rise up to slide over his hip. But just because it felt perfect and naturally didn’t change the fact that it was new to him; and overwhelming; and powerful. A shudder rolled through him as he moaned into her muzzle, which seemed to be enough to snap her out of whatever daze they were both locked in long enough to pull her mouth away from his.

    “Oh God, Nick,” she said after a moment. A moment during which they had both been breathing deeply, staring at each other. Him staring at her with open surprise, and her looking at him with longing and regret. “You don’t even remember, do you? I’m sorr… Mmph!”

    Silencing her was, for once, a very pleasant experience when he brought his muzzle down to hers again, this time taking her mouth with his own sense of urgency. It was satisfying when surprise didn’t even have time to register for her before she was moaning into his mouth again, amethyst eyes fluttering closed as they skipped the soft and warm and dove straight into the heated and desperate. A desperation that he hadn’t even known he had in him until he felt the sweep of her tongue over his, and the pull of her claws at the back of his shirt. She didn’t even bother with the buttons, and he didn’t try to correct her as he sat up and broke the kiss just along enough to slip his head and arms out. He even managed a little breathless laugh when his tie stayed around his neck and she grabbed it to yank him back down into the welcoming embrace of her lips again.

    It was a glorious feeling. Uncertainty, fear, and disbelief were all gone as he feasted on the taste of her mouth and knew that she was doing the same. He didn’t question the way her body rose to him when he took his turn, sliding his paws up and over the plain of her belly and the curve of her chest, the nightgown flowing up as his paws moved. They broke the kiss again as she raised her arms when he slipped the silky pink nighty over her head. He didn’t even finish the motion before his muzzle dropped to her chest and closed his teeth lightly on the stiff peak of one pink nipple. He savored the surprised gasp and the groan the followed it, opened his eyes to watch that small and lithe little bunny arch her back as she reached down to grip his ears eagerly. He especially liked the way her breath came in hitched little gasps, and her large front teeth caught her lower lip in a bite that just had to be painful when the bite turned into a slow suckle. Her scent bloomed around him: those sweet hints of bunny that had so tantalized and soothed him now surrounded him, filled his next breath with something hot and delicious that made his mouth water.

    “Nick,” she breathed out, her voice so thick with a desire that it only made him want to make her moan some more. But to his surprise she was gently but firmly tugging his ears to move him back, to move him away. “No, no. Nick, we can’t. Please.”

    He didn’t want it to stop. It all felt so good, a relief from the pain and confusion of the last month. But more than that, even though it was new and strange, it felt so right. He wanted to find the source of that alluring scent and bury his muzzle there until she surrendered to the same need that he felt. He wanted her to  _want_ him, just as he wanted her.

    It was only when she turned her eyes to him and he saw the same passion he felt reflected in them, the same need to go on that he was able to relent and raise his muzzle. She did want him, a want that he felt in the touch of her trembling paws as she slid them both down either side of his muzzle to draw him close to her. Not to kiss this time. Just pulled him close and wrapped her arms around his bare shoulders with her muzzle pressed into the side of his neck. Panting lightly, trying to ease back from the need that had caused his heart to slam against his chest and his groin to throb, he almost tentatively wrapped his arms around her.

    “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice a odd combination of misery and contentment. A feeling that he understood completely as he gently rooted through the fur of her throat with the tip of his nose. Exploring her, because it was… So strange. He knew what to do, and when he had been lost in need he had just done it. Followed his desires, and known how to pull their mutual desire to the next level. Now that he was thinking about it, he only knew this body from random flashes of memory; sparse memories that made even the slide of his paw down the back of her neck unexplored territory.

    “Don’t be,” he whispered in reply when his muzzle found the rim of her ear. He kissed it, just a light graze of his lips over the gray fur. Not to tease, though he did feel the little shiver slide through her, but because he was curious. “I don’t even know… Who am I to you, Judy? What are we to each other?”

    “You need to remember that yourself,” she whispered in a suddenly drowsy voice. He felt her paws sliding down his shoulders, dig into his fur as they moved up and down his back in a slow and sleepy caress. He wondered for a moment if she had been sleeping as poorly as he had. Or had she been sleeping less? “It’s important. We can’t push this. Please be patient.”

    A laugh almost wanted to come, but it came out as a sigh that was half disappointment and half frustration. Still, he gave her a light nod and a gentle nuzzle to her cheek that had a small smile climbing her lips again before he started to draw away from her. He found himself stopped when her arms tightened around him, her muzzle pressing into his neck and her lips into his fur.

    “Please stay.”

    Soft and pleading, the whispered words brought with them a strange relief even though he knew the invitation wasn’t meant as an offer to continue what had almost been. Maybe not so strange, really, he realized when he lifted his head to look down into her eyes. Eyes that were warm and welcoming, hopeful and just a little bit desperate. And because he was almost certain that the same look was reflected back to her this time, he gave his answer.

    “All right.”

    Rolling over onto his side in the middle of the bed and tucking the pillow under his head, he left his arms open to her as she curled herself against him. Her smaller body molding to his, matching her curves to the length of his longer body with the experience of someone who was familiar with where she wanted to be. He felt the heat when she tucked her muzzle into the thick fur of his chest ruff, sucking in a deep breath that she released with a sound that was still filled with as much longing as it was content relaxation. He let his paw pet up and down her arm lightly, letting his claws trace the pattern of her fur as they just stayed there in silence for long minutes.

    “So, you really didn’t do anything with that vixen?” came her hopeful voice again, drawing a small laugh from him as he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her close for the rest of the night.

** Day 36 **

    Easy wasn’t a word he would use to describe their situation.

    Better, maybe?

    He still remembered very little, though he had gained his first memories of actually being a police officer. A trip down to the ZPD, to meet (again) some his fellow officers. His idea, actually; one that she supported wholeheartedly. He had admitted to her that it felt strange on the drive home, the nervousness not entirely based on the fact that he had been meeting co-workers he didn’t remember. He was still Nick the street hustler in his own mind, only a little over a month out of the gate and three years behind the times. There was the nervousness of a less than honest fox. “Because if I ever did do anything illegal, which I never have, it might come back to haunt me,” he had explained to her. A statement which had drawn a bittersweet little smile up at the corners of her muzzle that confused him until she explained that he had said almost the same thing during the Night Howler investigation.

     _“You know, I think you’d actually make a pretty good cop,” she quipped as she leaned back and folded her arms, her tone not entirely playful._

     _His gaze flicked over her, trying to judge how serious the still adorable bunny was for a fraction of a second. The feeling of affection that was growing for her, the same affection that had made him all but forget about the carrot pen, made him want to believe her. But the moment was brief, and he gave a little scoff._

     _“Huh. How dare you.”_

     _“Funny you should say that.” She was standing in front of him in the ornate and sunny lobby now, looking a little nervous as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He watched her with mild curiosity when she started to unfold it as she continued. “Because, well… I’ve been thinking. It would be nice to have a partner.”_

    The surprise had been so warm, so deep that he felt it all over again as if for the first time. He ran his fingers together as they drove in silence, almost able to feel the paper against his pads. And he felt the pleasure, even as a part of his mind had told him that the bunny was obviously insane to think that he belonged in that uniform. But she had believed in him, had offered trust and reached out a paw that no one ever had before. The pictures on the wall, the medals and commendations in his name, the friendly faces of the officers who had all welcomed him and shaken his paw with real pleasure to see him on his feet? All of that was because of one moment of trust. Because one rabbit had convinced him that he was more than he had let himself believe.

    After asking her to pull over, ignoring her concerned expression, he had unbuckled her seatbelt and dragged her fully across the seats until she was in his lap. She let herself be held without complaint and held him in return with her tiny paws sliding over the back of his shirt when he shared the memories with her.

** Day 37 **

    The very next morning was particularly hard for him. For both of them. Waking up at her normal insanely early hour, she gently tried to disengage herself from his arms after pressing a light kiss to the side of his muzzle. Her attempts to leave did not sit well with his half-asleep mind.

    “Call in sick,” he mumbled, and before she could protest he pulled her easily back into his arms. And into the morning erection that throbbed pleasantly against that perky rear. He felt her tail twitch and felt the way that she went soft and lucid against him rather than struggle or try to pull away again. Her scent sweetened, and he released a warm breath against the side of her neck as he nibbled his way down the side of her throat. Every little brush of his sharp teeth drew a shiver from her. “I don’t need to remember that I want you to  _know_  I want you.”

    He released a little breath against the base of one ear before he gave a sharp nip, drawing a soft, mewling whimper from her as she dropped her head back just to give him easier access.

    “Nick, please.”

    The pleading edge to her voice had him releasing a low sigh as he buried his face into the side of her neck again; the paw that had been sliding down her belly towards the heat between her thighs, a heat that he could almost taste, slowed to a stop. Instead, he started to pet his fingers through the silky white fur of her belly as he placed a series of affectionate kisses along the line of her jaw. His lips touched hers for a moment, briefly: because anything else would have driven him silently mad, he was sure.

    “I know,” he mumbled in a tone that was as unhappy as it was accepting. “’Wait, wait, wait.’ I’ll have you know that I’m going to have to take care of this later. And you should think about that while you’re on your way to work. Because that’s when I’ll be doing it.”

    “That’s not fair,” she groaned, but still rolled away from him when he relaxed his arms around her. He watched her move around the room in little more than her fur, afforded him a full view of that sexy body of hers. Grey and white open to his view, for the most part, because she was not bothering to wear anything more than panties to bed with him. He wondered what hell she had derived that torture from because it was becoming more effective by the day. Still, emerald greens were affectionate and heated as she walked over to the closet to get her uniform. And damned if he didn’t want to eat her alive, from those high perky ears to those tasty bunny toes and every curve in between.

    “Life’s not fair, is it?” he grumbled, then flashed a grin when she shot a half-hearted glare at him. “If it were, I would remember everything right now. And you would let me drag you back to bed, where I would spend at least the next few hours familiarizing myself with how amazingly good I am absolutely positive you taste.”

    This had her freezing in place for a moment, and his grin only grew until canines were exposed when the tremble raced through that athletic bunny body before she turned another glare at him. This glare was more heated, but not with anger.

    “Bastard,” she grumbled as she took her uniform and headed towards the bathroom, slamming the door, clicking the lock and calling through it. “I hate cold showers, you know!”

** Day 39 **

    That morning’s routine of tease and denial had led him to an interesting change of pace. After she’d managed to slip out the door, leaving him feeling the emptiness of the house all over again for the first few minutes, he realized that she’d left her cell phone on the side table. Being the honest fox that he was (supposed to be) he considered just leaving it alone for a whole thirty minutes while he had breakfast. After that, his willpower was gone and he found himself sitting on the couch in the living room with the phone in one paw. He wanted to feel guilty, wanted to feel like he was invading her privacy, but the fact that he wanted answers that she was unwilling to give urged him on as he swiped the pad of his finger across the screen to bring up the cOS.

    Pleased that she didn’t have any sort of password, he tapped his way through various screens curiously. Phone numbers were standard, not that he expected she had any torrid affairs to hide from him. He was a little surprised to see his mother’s numbers among the recent calls, a few times over the past two days. Her parents, calls from the ZPD, an outgoing call to a number he recognized as Finnick. This didn’t surprise him. He had already guessed that the bat-eared fox was in on the whole ‘Don’t tell Nick everything’ scam he was currently living with. He bypassed the random apps until he came up on the Files Folder, and dug through it until he found the photos folders.

    And there they were. Him and her, everywhere. A pic of him just walking out of the ZPD in full uniform; sleeves rolled up, paws shoved in his pockets with aviator sunglasses in place against the same bright sun the glinted off his badge. The next was a picture of him taking a bite of a doughnut in the cruiser. The next one was a picture of him with a young fox riding on his shoulders in the park, little arms outstretched towards a vixen with a look of relief on her face. Another shot of him trying desperately not to spill his coffee, and another of him walking back towards the ZPD entrance. He realized what they were when he flipped back through the pics and looked at the dates, counted back to what he found to be his hire date.

    It was his first day on the job.

     _“Hey, partner. Smile!”_

     _“Oh come on, Carrots. This is just silly. How many of these are you going to take?”_

     _“These may be important someday! It’s history in the making. First fox on the ZPD, first day on the job. When you’re old and grouchy, sitting in a rocking chair surrounded by grandkits and reliving stories of your youth, you’ll be glad I took these.”_

     _“Fine fine. Just be sure you get my handsome side.”_

     _“Every side is handsome.”_

     _“What was that?”_

     _“Nothing! Smile!”_

    He heard her little comment but had pretended not to. Just like he had pretended that it hadn’t caused his heart to skip in his chest. He’d had such a crush on her. More than a crush. He had been crazy about her. The bright and cheerful energy that she presented to the world, to the sly sarcasm that she wielded with at least as much skill as he did. From the first day he’d come back from the academy, he’d been in love with her.

    But cop or not, he was a fox and she was a bunny.

    The memories of those first few days on the force came back like a splash of water to the face. Everything from his graduation, his first morning on the job…

     _“You know you love me.”_

     _“Do I know that? Yes… Yes, I do.”_

    …to the days that followed it. Weeks. He almost, for one blinding moment as he looked down the picture of himself walking back towards the ZPD entrance, though it might all just come rushing back. But like turning off a faucet, the flood slowed and abated. He wasn’t even sure exactly what he had now, how much. It wasn’t like everything had just flashed into his mind, but now some of the pictures he flipped through were familiar.

    Benjamin! He remembered Benjamin and his insane food obsession! And Wolford, and Delgato, and Fangmeyer! And the Chief, with his sharp if dry wit with threats of parking duty. And for the first time, he admitted to himself, he really believed it. These were no longer just someone else’s memories that he had to convince himself were true. He didn’t have to take anyone else’s word for it.

    “Oh my god,” he whispered as he stared down at the phone clutched in his paw. “I’m a  _cop!”_

    The delighted sound that escaped him was a half laugh and half sob as he continued to flip through the photos eagerly now. There were a lot more selfies now, with their faces pressed together, or just her snapping pictures of random things in Zootopia. Some pictures from the Gazelle concert they had gone to together. Some pictures from Bunnyburrow, where the first picture she had was of him being surrounded by young bunnies; and the next one where he was indulgently letting them climb all over him while her parents watched patiently from the background. No more memories surfaced as he did, no matter how many pictures surfaced, but it didn’t matter really. He had something now that he had lacked before, and…

    He paused as he flipped through to the next set of pictures, pausing as he realized that the date was wrong. Turning back a few to the ones from BunnyBurrow, noted the date stamp to be a few months after he had joined the force. Then when he flipped back, all of them were from a year after that. The time skip made him watch the dates more closely as he continued, noting that it happened a few more times. First the full year, then months would vanish after that. It caused a frown to curve his muzzle as he paused on a photo of her that he had taken. He knew he had taken it because he could see part of his paw in the shot, stretched out towards her. Something about the picture was different, he knew. He couldn’t place it, couldn’t find it no matter how long he looked. And the memories that came with it remained a mystery to him until he finally closed the folder and let the phone drop into his lap.

    With what he had now, he wanted to talk to Judy. Wanted to share everything he did remember, and almost went in search of the phone before he realized that her phone was in his lap. A little laugh and a roll of his eyes later, and he reached for the remote to the TV instead. Just some background noise. Maybe a music channel to listen to while he leaned back and sorted through the memories. He turned it on and found himself staring that the scene on the TV.

    Flashing lights and at least half a dozen ZPD cruisers gathered around the downtown area in the aerial view provided by the news network. The droning voice of the newscaster promised more information as it became available, even as the sounds of more gunfire rang out over the air. The text scrolling below in large white letters with the ZNN logo in the corner read:

    “Shootout at Zootopia Central Bank and Trust. Two gun mammals confirmed. Causalities reported as two ZPD Officers and one civilian airlifted to the area hospital. No reports on condition.”

    He heard the words ‘hostages’ and ‘negotiations’ immediately after he turned the volume up to hear the rest of the report, but they had nothing else on the officers injured. Feeling a sickening clutch in his belly and panic surging through him, he stood so quickly that her phone went skidding across the floor as he ran into the bedroom to grab his own new, almost completely unused phone. Dialing the direct number to the ZPD front desk with trembling paws, he placed it to his ear as he turned his wide eyes back to the screen. Hoping that somewhere in the chaos below he would see the tiny bunny in a blue uniform assisting, but unhurt. He listened to the call ring. And ring. And ring. He slammed his finger down on the End Call button so hard it almost cracked the screen before he dialed again.

    And again.

    And again.

    “No no no,” he muttered to himself over and over, pacing the room with ears pinned to the back of his head when no sign of his partner was seen in the mass of ZPD cruisers. “Pick up the phone! Damn it, Benjamin!”

    Finally, he heard the click of the call connecting, and the weary-sounding, “ZPD, Clawhauser speaking.”

    “Benjamin!” he said instantly, pressing his paw to one eye to wipe at the gritty feeling forming. “Where is Judy?”

    “Nick? Nick, this isn’t a good time,” came the hesitant voice of the cheetah, with a reply that only had Nick’s anger rising.

    “Clawhauser, where is my partner _?”_ he demanded again, his paw tightening around the phone so hard that he felt the ache in his pads and heard the creak of the case.

    “I’m not really sure, Nick,” came the reply again, just as hesitant as before. He wasn’t technically a cop right now, wasn’t her partner. Wasn't  _there_ when she might need him. Next of kin only. That was who could ask for information on officers in the field during a crisis like this. “I can have her call you as soon as I get word from her.”

    Rage and desperate surged together.

    “ _God damn it, Clawhauser, where is my wife!”_ he screamed.

    The only sound that followed for a long moment was the sound of his own panting gasps and the roar of his heartbeat in his ears. The silence was thick, and it took him a moment to realize that the silence was all his. He wasn’t hearing anything, wasn’t seeing anything but the word that rang through his mind like a bell. It wasn’t until he realized that someone was speaking on the other end of the line that he focused in, the throaty rumble of Chief Bogo coming through over the dispatch radio.

    “Hopps was taken to Downtown General, along with Delgato,” he said over the sounds of shouting, including his own. “Keep those reporters back! I don’t want these…”

    There may have been more coming from either Bogo or Clawhauser, but Nick wasn’t aware it. He had already ended the call and was making another as he looked around for her phone again. That picture. The one that had looked strange to him, had looked off.

    Wife.

    “Hey, fox,” came Finnick’s gruff voice on the other end as he spotted her phone on the other side of the room and all but dove for it.

    His wife.

     _“Do you, Nicholas Wilde…”_

    “I need a ride downtown. Now,” he said quickly, as he navigated his way to the picture folder again and scrolled to the more recent pool. “Judy’s in the hospital.”

     _“…take this bunny to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and told hold…”_

     “Whoa whoa, what?” came the startled reply, the fox on the other end now clearly paying full attention. “When?”

    “… _in sickness and in health…”_

     “Please, just hurry. I’m…”

    “… _for as long as you both shall live?”_

    His voice drifted off when he found the picture again and stared at the image once he opened it. It was blindingly obvious, now that he understood. The glint of gold from the wedding band almost buried in the red fur of the hand he was holding out towards her.

     _“Of course I do, one hundred percent.”_

    “I’m home.”

** Home **

    He ran through the double sliding doors of the emergency room at full tilt after what had been the longest drive of his life. That he could remember, anyway. Making a b-line for the reception desk, which was currently manned by an alpaca duty nurse who looked bored and uninterested in everything around her, he took a flying leap that put him on top of the desk in front of her. She merely turned that bored gaze towards him and rose one eyebrow.

    “Can I help you, sir?”

    “A ZPD officer...  _Two_ officers were brought in with injuries,” he said quickly, his ears flat as he turned his gaze to look around the packed ER. There were animals of all shapes and sizes inside, making it impossible for him to single anyone out or to try to pick up the scent of rabbit in the myriad of scents. “Judith Hopps was one of them. Is there any word? Is there a doctor I can talk to?”

    “Sir, unless you’re a relative or an officer yourself,” she drawled, that uninterested tone making him want to bite her. “You’re going to have to go to the waiting room.”

    “I’m her husband!” he shouted in a near growl, his paws clenched at his sides as he tried to keep his lips from curling. The last thing he needed was to be escorted out for bearing his teeth.

    “Nick?” came the soft voice behind him, making him whirl around to see the most beautiful sight he had ever seen in his life.

    The little bunny stood there in her blue uniform with the blue knife-vest and the shiny badge on her chest. Her arm was in a sling, but she was standing under her own power, walking towards him without a limp or any sign that her life was in danger. Her eyes were a little wide when she looked at him now, and in the relief that flooded him, he didn’t even notice the hopeful tears in her own as he jumped down from the desk and ran over to her.

    “Carrots!” He all but prayed the pet-name as he dropped to his knees in front of her, dragging her close so he could drop his muzzle into her neck and just hold her. The scent of gun smoke and blood that wasn’t hers lingered on her fur and made him frown as he pulled back to look down at her. Had he missed an injury? “Are you alright? I saw… I thought…”

    “I’m fine,” she assured him softly, and now that he was paying a little more attention, he realized that he could hear the tremor in her voice and a see a shimmer of tears in her eyes. “Delgato was hit, and when I tried to pull him out of the way he fell on top of me. Sort of a sad way to get injured, all things considered. You said…”

    “Husband, right,” he said and tilted his muzzle into her paw when she reached up with her good arm to slide her fingers through his fur. He gave a little laugh as he pulled her close to him again, closing his eyes as he felt her cling to him. “Yeah, I remember that now. Unless we’ve gotten a divorce since that memory. In which case, get ready to have me beg. Because I will beg. I will plead and do anything I need to do to fix it if that’s true.”

    “Of course we’re not divorced, dumb fox,” she said with a watery laugh as he felt a few tears wet the fur of his neck. “The doctor thought that, with what you did remember – where your memories of me began – that with you being a fox and me being a bunny, you might willingly reject the idea that we’re married, which would have… Could have… Oh, Nick. I’m sorry.”

    When a few tears became many, and he felt her tiny paw grip the back of his shirt as she burrowed into him, he squeezed her a little tighter while being careful of her arm.

    “It’s a relief, you know,” he mumbled into her fur as he kissed the fur between her ears.

    “That we’re married?” she asked, resting her head on his shoulder as he ran his fingers down the length of her ears slowly. He heard the sigh of contentment leave her and smiled slowly.

    “Of course it is,” he said, resting his muzzle between her ears as he opened his eyes and looked out while seeing nothing but the little pieces of the past that he did remember. “I still don’t remember much. I don’t remember falling in love, or dating, or asking you to marry me. Or you asking me because you are an aggressive little bunny when you want something.”

    She raised her head as he looked down at her, close enough that their muzzles were almost touching. He could see the worry in her eyes, eyes that were so damned beautiful and bright and full of love. “Nick…”

    “I’m relieved because, even though I don’t remember these things,” he said, letting his claws slide through her ears in a way that distracted her from just about everything. He knew it somehow, and it proved true with a little shudder raced through her as he grinned softly. “I’ve known for a while how I feel about you. And this way, I don’t have to go through the process of charming you with witty remarks, roguish good looks and sultry looks across the dining room table.”

    This drew a snort of laughter from her before she pressed her mouth to his briefly. “All of those things are still greatly appreciated, you know.”

    “Hm,” he breathed and dipped his muzzle for another sort kiss. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. How’s Delgato, by the way?”

    “They say he’ll recover,” she said, gently disengaging herself from him. He was fully aware that they were in the middle of a very crowded waiting room, and that he was a fox snuggled up to a bunny. The number of odd looks that they were drawing gave him the childish desire to stick his tongue out at the lot of them. But he just settled for letting her draw him towards a pair of chairs against the far wall. “The bullet passed through his hip, so it will be a while before he’s back on his feet. But he’ll get there.”

    “That’s good,” he said, drawing her close to his side as they sat together. “And how are we doing?”

    “Better,” came her tired, but content reply. He watched her eyes slide closed as she turned her face into his shirt and breathed in deeply. “It might still be a while before we get back on our feet, but we’ll get there.”

    “Yeah,” he replied, and smiled down at her a little sadly as he considered the small range of what he had remembered in the past month. The short peaks into what had been years of his life; years of a life that he still couldn’t really grasp as his in a lot of ways. “I’m still only getting random memories, Carrots. What if I don’t get it all back? I mean, I know how I feel. I remember marrying you, and I don’t want anything more than to make sure that doesn’t change. But I don’t remember our first date, or out first kiss, or when we told each other our feelings and who did it first. What if I never really remember  _us_?”

    “But you do know how you feel now?” she asked him quietly, squeezing his hand gently to hold his attention.

    “Oh, yes,” he said easily, watching the slow and warm smile spread over her lips when he continued. “I love you, Carrots. Which is saying a lot, because my most vivid memory of you is desperately wanting to ditch you after the Naturalist’s Club.”

    “Oh, how boring our lives would have turned out to be if you had managed that,” she whispered, and he lowered his muzzle into her paws when she cupped it to draw him closer. “I love you, too. And now even if you never remember what we were before, you’ll remember this as the first time you told me and I answered. We’ll make two new memories for everyone that doesn’t come back, Nick. We’ll rebuild it all if we have to. If memories make the fox, then I am going to make sure that you are the most loved fox who ever lived.”

    His eyes softened, his expression warmed as he looked down at her and she smiled up at him. Cupping her face in his larger paws, he touched his nose to hers lightly. “And I’ll make sure that you’re the most loved bunny who ever lived.”

    “Already there, Slick,” she whispered, and touched her soft lips to his just long enough for him to feel her contented sigh escape against his cheek fur. “Already there.”

 


	4. One Hundred Percent 2: Remembering...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My 500 follower reward for DA, as decided by a poll the requested the next chapter of One Hundred Percent, with erotic content.
> 
> Enjoy! 
> 
> Art by TheWyvernsWeaver! 

**One Hundred Percent Two: Remembering…**

** How well she knows **

    Lying on the couch this late at night wasn’t exactly productive, but he wasn’t feeling particularly productive today. Not that he had been particularly productive for the past two months. Even knowing that it was more than understandable and had been advised by his doctor that he not try to force himself to work as anything other than a police officer did not remove that feeling of being useless. From the age of twelve, he had worked his first hustle and hadn’t stopped moving from that point forward. Some might not have called it work but some people didn’t understand the planning involved, or the legwork needed. The struggle to keep things legal even if not entirely unethical while jumping from one part of Zootopia to the other on a very tight schedule, requiring that the freshly frozen merchandise be waiting and on display at exactly

    And that was just for the pawpsicle hustle.

    The thought of moving back into hustling had occurred to him more than once. Not flighty moments that came and went in the blink of an eye. Serious consideration. Thoughts of how much easier it would be to just slip back into making two hundred bucks a day, at least so he wouldn’t feel like such a burden, were not easy to dismiss. He remembered certain parts of being an officer at the ZPD, but not all of it. Not enough to make him feel it. His damaged mind kept trying to tell him that nothing had changed, that he was still just a sly fox and he should be doing what sly foxes did because no one would see him differently anyway. It was where he belonged, right?

    These thoughts – which had returned despite the best efforts of the rambunctious zebra trying too hard to tell old jokes as new ones – were cut off by the sound of the front door opening, the steps of light paws moving across the tile floor, and then the warm and welcome scent of bunny. Without sitting up, he turned his head to see Officer Hopps looking down at him with a slight smile on her muzzle. Dressed in the same custom made blue uniform, which he decided someone must have designed with his libido in mind, she leaned over the arm of the couch towards him without a word. Rolling fully onto his back, he greeting the motion by tilting his muzzle towards hers until their lips met in an upside-down kiss that sent warmth rolling all through him.

    Had he been thinking about going back to hustling? Because that idea was stupid, and never going to happen. Not only because he knew it would disappoint this bunny who believed in him so much, but because he would just be proving that he wasn’t good enough for her. Little doubts and fears about what he had been before he met her flittered away when the light kiss broke and she looked down at him with sparkling amethyst eyes.

    “Welcome home,” he murmured, sliding his fingers up either side of her cheeks until he could scratch at the base of her ears with gentle claws. He grinned at the little hum of approval that escaped her, her head lowering again to give him easier access as those ears dropped back. This allowed him to raise his head just an inch or two before he caught her lips with his again.

    It was so easy to sink into it. The sweet, earthy fragrance of her own personal scent; a scent that was permanently mingled with his own now, burned into his memory all over again. Every breath he drew was laced with it as she tipped her muzzle so that their lips melded to one another seamlessly for a moment before parting to deepen the kiss. The taste of her was just as delightful and so unlike anything he had known. That it still surprised him when her small tongue darted out to tease his lips apart was mostly because his memories were still broken and spotted. He still had no clear memory of how they had progressed to this point; how they had gone from a fox and a bunny that could hardly stand each other to partners to lovers and then to husband and life. It made it intense in a way, the surprise that always managed to seep in with each deep kiss. A surprise that enhanced the flavor of her and made some part of him just had to wonder if she tasted so damned good  _because_  he was a fox and she was a bunny.

    More surprising might have been the fact that the predator and prey aspect of their relationship wasn’t something that she shied away from. Quite the contrary he often found. Like now, when the parting of his lips so that he could lightly touch just the tip of his tongue to hers was met with a little moan from her. Not just because of his tongue, but because during the duel between the two her own pink muscle slid over the tips of his canines – one after the other in deliberate little licks – with a lusty little flare that made his blood run hot. He knew she could feel the quickening of his heart when she placed her paw on his chest to crawl over the arm of the couch. She didn’t even bother to turn to face the same direction as his, instead opting to curl herself around his head without breaking the upside-down kiss.

    And that was where they both became very careful, as she settled into the kiss and he was surrounded by the warmth of her body and the scent of his mate. He slipped one paw gently under her arm, the one that was still in a sling more-often-than-not, lifting it until she could carefully slide her arm free and curve it under his muzzle to rest against his shoulder. She seemed determined not to separate their mouths, however, so the sling was left to hang from her shoulder even as she parted her mouth a bit further and pressed herself into him. It was his turn to release a little moan when she demanded more of the kiss; her tongue eager, searching, firmly sliding over his as her fingers digging into the front of his shirt. Her need and urgency grew as she let herself get lost in the kiss.

    It was the opposite for him. He was so much larger than her. His muzzle was broader and his tongue longer and his teeth sharper. As his paws felt to her hips, he felt how easily his fingers could swallow her body and he gentled his touch more than he needed to. He kept his claws from touching her, kept his teeth from grazing her lips. As she became ravenous, he tried to control every aspect of himself. He couldn’t let himself hurt her, and he didn’t know how to do this anymore. How had they ever? How did a fox make love to a bunny without causing her pain or frightening her? How did he control himself enough to keep from hurting her when the passion already had him wanting to roll her under him and claim her without restraint?

    Even knowing it was happening, he couldn’t stop it. The tension that filled him as he tried to overcompensate for his passion, tried to keep his claws away from a body that arched into them longingly, tried to soften the kiss when she only seemed interested in deepening it. A touch of panic came when he realized that she was still hurt, which only made the panic rise more quickly until he was dragging his muzzle away from hers.

    He heard the little groan from her, a groan that he knew was a result of the arousal that had thickened her scent around him being denied. Again. This wasn’t the first time, and like the other times, he regretted it. Regretted it, didn’t fully understand it, but couldn’t stop the rise of fear every time. And like the other times, even though her own desire for him was being as clearly denied as his own, Judy soothed him with soft caresses over his shoulder with her good paw and soft kisses tracing down the length of his muzzle.

    “I’m sorry, Carrots,” he said, his tone showing his frustration that was felt as much in the aching length trapped in his pants as the fact that he knew he was disappointing her again. “I don’t know why I…”

    “Shhh,” she breathed into the fur of his cheek, a short shiver escaping him when he felt her paw slide between the buttons of his shirt until she felt her fingers sliding into his fur. The touch was soothing somehow, not intended to arouse. Maybe it was the way she focused on the area over his heart beat and kept the kisses that trailed to the tip of his muzzle feather light, but everything she did calmed the panic. “It’s all right. We’ll get there.”

    It was impossible not to relax under her gentle paws. Paws that knew exactly how to calm him, how to ease his quick beat of his heart and gently insist that he surrender himself to her. She knew him so well that it made his heart ache that he couldn’t say the same, that he couldn’t be the one to tell her that it would be alright in the end. And even that ache was eased away when she touched the tip of his nose and easily used it to turn his gaze to her. That smile. Soft pink lips blending into white fur, curving upwards with just a quirk of humor before she touched that smile to the tip of his nose lightly.

    “It’s only been a few weeks,” she reminded him and when he cupped her cheek with one paw, she turned her face to kiss the pad softly. “What matters now is that you’re here, you’re My Fox, and we have time. Right now, I really should get out of this uniform.”

    “I’d have liked to be the one taking you out of it,” he joked lamely, his ears twitching unhappily when she carefully disengaged herself from him and stood beside the couch.

    “I’ll make you a deal,” she said, her good paw resting on her hip. A hip that she cocked to the side as she looked down at him. He was pretty sure she held the pose because of the way his gaze moved over her. A gaze that was as curious as it was enthralled by the body before him. Lingering memories of her being just an annoying bunny, a bunny that wasn’t at all attractive so much as she was just cute in a bunny way, were getting harder to recall. But they still reminded him, as did moments like this, that she was a creature of beauty.

    “And what deal is that?” he asked, his brow quirked when he managed to raise his eyes from her hips to meet her eyes.

    “We’ll try again, as often as we want to,” she said, the smile spreading into a slow grin that he could easily have called devious.

    “And..?” he said, one brow raising as he waited for the rest.

    “And what?” she said, her expression so innocent that he was left blinking after her when she turned on one paw and made her way towards the bedroom.

    He dropped his head back onto the couch as a bubble of laughter worked its way out of his throat, a silly grin plastered on his muzzle.

    “I love that bunny.”

 

** That She Hurts **

    “I don’t know, mom,” the voice said softly, drifting through the otherwise completely silent house.

    It was the first thing he clearly understood when he was drawn out of sleep, struggling to shake the blur of sleep from his mind and his eyes. Realizing that she wasn’t beside him explained why her voice sounded distant and muffled. Scrubbing his paws over his face to wipe away the sleep, he turned his head and raised his ears in the direction the voice had come from. The door between her bedroom – their bedroom. He was a married fox, damn it – and the living room was closed, but he could make out the words clearly enough when she spoke again.

    “No, of course not,” she was saying, obviously trying to keep her voice low in an attempt not to wake him. “Of course he really remembers that we’re married. He just… Doesn’t remember much else about us. Look, I called because I don’t know who else to talk to, not for you to tell me that I need to be patient. I  _am_ being patient. I’ll wait until I’m old and my fur turns white if I have to, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt sometimes.”

    The curiosity turned into an ache in his chest when he heard those words. Of course, he knew it. Without the vast majority of his memories, he felt the frustration every day, doubted himself and his relationship with her. Not that he loved her because there was no question in any part of him about that. But was he being the Nick that she had fallen in love with? The random, scattered memories that he did have made him doubt that. That Nick, the one she loved and the one she clearly needed, wasn’t back yet. He couldn’t even make love to her because of his own fears; fears that he had obviously conquered in a past that he no longer remembered.

    “He said he thought about being a hustler again. Going back onto the streets,” she continued, the sorrow in her tone as she said it dropping her voice. He frowned into the dark. “I don’t think it was serious, and I’m glad he told me. He’s just restless. I’m going to stay focused on him. No, mom. No! That isn’t how it works. I can’t leave him to ‘take a break.’ You don’t know what it’s like, or how lucky I am that he even accepted staying here at first. The doctor warned me not to expect that everything is normal. Because it’s not. He remembers that we’re married, he says he loves me, but there is so much missing between. He could still reject the memories, or fall out of love with me.”

    Her voice lowered and his ears dropped back when he heard the tremble of her voice followed by the soft sniffle and hitch in her breathing even through the closed door. He was already out of the bed, ignoring the chill of being dressed only in boxers and fur when he heard her gather herself enough to continue.

    “I try not to let it get to me but every day when I get home, I’m afraid for just a second that I’ll open the door and he won’t be there. I don’t even know what it would do to me if…”

    Her voice trailed off when he opened the bedroom door, stepping into the main room that was lit only by the glow of the phone against her ear. A glow that stung eyes that were fully adjusted and made for the dark, though he didn’t take them from her when her ears shot upright and radared in his direction. He saw her cradle it close to her ear and whisper that she had to go to her mother before she slid her paw over the screen. It was silly, the way she lowered her head to hide the way she wiped at her cheeks after setting the phone on the couch beside her. He could already smell the musty salt of them as he crossed the room to her when she turned her smiling face to look over the back of the couch.

    “Hey, Slick,” she said with a forced cheer, a cheer that made him wonder how often he had missed the truth of her own fear and doubts. “I was just talking to my…”

    The touch of his mouth to hers silenced her. Even as a small muffled sound of surprise escaped her, he leaned over the back of the couch to slide his paws under the plush fur of her rear and lift her from the couch. The fact that she wore nothing under the light blue nighty and that his paws were gripping bare flesh and fur seemed to please them both as he dragged her against him. The sound of surprise melted into a throaty little whimper as he deepened the kiss, being far rougher than he thought he might be normally as his muzzle parted and his tongue slid out to search for hers. Even when she met him with equal passion, wrapping her legs around his back as he held her against his chest, he realized that he had to control himself. His muzzle was larger, his teeth dangerous to such soft lips, and his tongue could easily overwhelm hers if he wasn’t gentle. It was almost a tease and a torment, how he wanted to go deeper and kiss harder only to hold himself back enough to ensure that he wasn’t going to hurt her. At the same time, the slide of her tongue over his bottom lip and over the tips of his teeth with lavish delight showed no such restraint, and it only made him ache for her all the more.

    It wasn’t until he found himself carrying her back to the bedroom and lying on top of her on the now cool sheets that she broke the kiss and looked up at him. He could see everything in a faded spectrum: the quick rise and fall of her chest, the slide of that soft tongue over her lips and the way her lips glistened when it withdrew. Lit only by the faint white glow of the alarm clock, the dim room didn’t allow her to see as much. But she seemed used to the dark and completely unafraid of it and him as she reached up to caress either side of his muzzle. Then her fingers wandered up over his cheeks, her shorter claws dragging over his ears in a way that made him shiver before he felt them slide into the fur at the back of his neck.

    “I’m sorry, Nick,” she whispered because the silent room demanded nothing less than softly spoken words between them. “I don’t mean to doubt. I don’t want to. It’s just…”

    “That you really are just a dumb bunny,” he inserted lightly, causing her to blink once in the dark. Feeling her body nestled under his own and the ease in which she fit against him, adjusted herself not only to accept his weight but welcome it, made him silently curse the fact that he couldn’t remember how to touch her. How to be gentle enough with her to please her without fear. But that something else and not as important now. “Very dumb, for thinking that I would ever leave you.”

    “I don’t,” she breathed, tilting her head back when he lowered his nose to the spot where her nighty met the fur of her chest. His breath ruffled her fur as he drew in her, quick little huffs that had her fingers tightening in his fur. “I try not to. When I think about it, I don’t believe it. But I’m afraid sometimes.”

    “Don’t be. Not of that,” he said, his voice a gentle hum against her collarbone that made a little shiver race through her. “The idea of leaving you hasn’t even crossed my mind.  _Will_ never cross my mind. Even before I realized I love you, I didn’t want to leave. Even before I remembered our marriage, I wasn’t sure what I would do without you. Do you realize the insane plans I came up with to make you fall in love with me when I thought that it was just me?”

    “Plans?” she said, a grin twitching at the corner of her muzzle. Even though her eyes were still a bit wet from tears that hadn’t made it to falling, he could see the curious surprised and even a little delight on her face.

    “Oh, the stupid, romantic things I would have done,” he said, his voice a playfully wistful sigh that he pressed against her lips in a soft, short kiss. “Also charming and sly, I promise. I was going to hustle you into loving me. Romantic meals where I pretended not to realize I was seducing you, comments in total admiration of how beautiful you are, maybe some scent marking to make sure you were so used to my presence that you wouldn’t want me to leave.

    “All intended to confuse you,” he said, punctuating the words with light kisses as she stared up at him. “Flatter you and baffle your bunny mind until I found a perfect time to take you and woo you into my paws for the rest of our lives.”

    “Is that what you were planning to do,” she said, a titter of happy laughter escaping her before she dragging him down with both arms wrapped around her neck. He was glad to see that her arm didn’t seem to be hurting her, showing a good deal of strength when she all but strangled him with it as she rubbed her cheek against his neck. “I think I said before, I am still open to all sorts of romance. And flattery.”

    “Then I’ll be sure to start tomorrow.” Walking her up the bed on all fours was easy – considering that she hadn’t relaxed the grip of her thighs around him at all and so was still attached to his belly – and once he had dragged them back to the pillows and settled down side by side with her, he nestled his muzzle into the crook of her neck. A small chuckle escaped him when she nestled in close to him, yawning even as she rooted her face around to find a comfortable spot against his bare chest. “I’ll make sure you’re the most loved bunny who ever lived.”

** Friendship **

    “I feel like an idiot.”

    The bland, unimpressed look from the gray wolf sitting across the table from him didn’t surprise him. Memories of Wolford were like memories of everything else from his past life: scattered at best and mostly missing normally. His first memory of his friendship with the larger predator caught him a little off-guard, to say the least. As things came back in frustrating stops and starts, he was getting used to the fact that he had been a police officer, had been Judy’s partner, had been decorated. It only made sense that he had friends in the ZPD, until the reality of that fact had slapped him in the face. Huster Nick, who dodged the police with a skill that often left their heads spinning, had an actual police officer friend. The strangeness of that had almost made him hesitate during their first meeting, but five minutes and half a beer later, the conversation had started to flow so easily that the oddity had vanished completely.

    Now it was almost funny. A few conversations later, after learning that his fellow officers didn’t only approve of his relationship with Judy but acted like some impromptu cheerleader for it, it was like they had been friends for years.

    Because… Well, they had been.

    “You look like an idiot,” Wolford deadpanned, without a touch of sympathy in his voice as he leaned back in the comfortable wooden chair. They waited for their meals in the poultry restaurant, which Wolford had insisted on being their normal meeting place. “That shirt is still terrible. I hope the memory of your fashion evolution comes back to you soon, because, damn.”

    “It’s comfortable,” he shrugged, glancing down at the yellow Hawaiian shirt and khaki pants he wore. “And it doesn’t look that bad. Do you have any idea how many pawpsicle I sold wearing this?”

    Knowing that the wolf understood that “comfortable” went further than just the way the pants fit or the breezy hang of the shirt meant that he didn’t need to explain further. There were still wide gaps in memory that prevented him from real feeling some part of his life beyond being a street fox and con artist. The fact that Wolford knew the stories of his life before Judy, knew the hustler as well as he knew the cop, only further cemented their friendship in Nick’s mind. He was sort of like a law abiding Finnick, something that he would never tell either of them if he wanted to keep his tail where it was.

    “I know, I know. Two hundred bucks worth a day, not including what you paid your ‘son’ for his assistance,” the other chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “You’ve always been way too proud of that, Nick.”

    “It was a good business model,” he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest as his ears dropped back to express annoyance he didn’t really feel. “And I made a lot more in a day than you. And before you say anything, I know, I know. It’s not about the money. It’s about being a part of something better, making a difference and all that.”

    “And the way that her uniform highlights her insane bunny butt,” Wolford inserted innocently, making him nearly choke on a sip of beer. “Those were your words, mind you.”

    “Yeah,” Nick sighed, both paws wrapped around the dark bottle as he stared at it wistfully. “Hard to deny that aspect of it.”

    “So, are you going to tell me why you’re an idiot?” his friend asked after a long moment, “Or will you continue to stare at the bottle as some woefully inadequate stand in for your wife?”

    Rolling green eyes skyward, Nick set the bottle down without another drink and leaned forward to meet the patient dark eyes of the wolf.

    “I didn’t see how afraid she is. I mean, I know this has been affecting her. I’m not completely oblivious,” he grunted, waving his paw absently when the wolf narrowed his eyes a bit. “But last night I woke up to find her pouring her heart out to her mom about how she’s afraid I’m going to leave her. That she’s going to come home one day, and find an empty house.”

    “It’s not unheard of, you know,” Wolford said, though his tone was sympathetic. For which one of them, Nick couldn’t tell. “Not that I expect you to leave but sometimes it happens. I didn’t expect it to be a concern of hers once you remembered your marriage. Did it ever cross your mind?”

    “Before I remembered anything, yeah. Of course, it did,” he said, admitting what he hadn’t to Judy. It caused a little turn in his stomach, realize what he could have lost if he had followed the impulse to just leave the first day she had gone to work. Thankfully that day, he had decided to call his mom and she had gently pleaded with him to give it time. “But even before I spent the day rolling around in her scent – and you can stop grinning at me like that. I already regret telling you that story – I was already the one worried that she was going to leave me. And I still am.”

    “So,” Wolford began, an exasperated sigh escaping through his broad nose as he leaned over the table, “before I start my list of the reasons that you are both being idiots, you’re going to have to explain that to me. I think it’s obvious by now that she loves you, so why would  _she_ be the one to leave when  _she_ was the one worried that  _you_  would leave?”

    He could admit that it was male pride that had him picking up the beer again and muffling his reply behind the sip he took. The bitter flavor of the now only slightly cold beer was made more so by the perked ears and raised brow of his friend. Damned wolf ears were almost as sensitive as bunny ears.

    “I’m sorry, did you say that you haven’t had marital relations since you got that part of your memory back?”

      He wasn’t sure if it was the open shock in the other male’s tone or the fact that he used the term used that made him place a paw over his muzzle to smother the unavoidable humor. “Did you really just call it ‘marital relations?’ What, are we super conservative in our conversations? Because if we are I am going to have to question the validity of this friendship, buddy.”

    There it was again. That odd perkiness that seemed to come over the wolf every time he was called ‘buddy.’ Ears perked, the little upturn of the corners of his muzzle, bright eyes. Nick could only assume that it had some meaning that he couldn’t remember, but decided it would be best not to overuse it until he remembered exactly what it meant.

    “Well, no,” the now perky wolf admitted, turning his attention to the cougar that stepped up to their side of the table with their meals. Once settled and alone again, Wolford waved his fork and continued around the first bite of the fragrant poultry. “So, you haven’t had sex. Trying to wait for your memories to come back or somethin’?”

    “I’m afraid I’ll hurt her,” Nick said, deciding to be blunt and not avoid the subject. If Wolford knew them as well as it seemed he did, maybe he could get some insight into why he was afraid of it. “I mean, do you know if I ever hurt her before?”

    “Oh, no! No, never,” came the denial, a heartfelt one despite being said around a mouthful of food. The rest waited for a hasty swallow helped by a sip of beer, during which Nick was relieved by the answer. “When you two first got together, I couldn’t tell which one of you had less control. You were all over each other.”

    All over each other. That he could believe, at least for certain from his perspective. It was getting hard for him to look at her without wanting her and that softly sweet scent of hers, a scent that deepened when she was aroused, made his mouth water and his tongue lick at the roof of his mouth. Wanting her wasn’t the issue, though.

    “I freeze,” he murmured, poking his rice with the fork without much interest in eating. “I panic. We’ll be close – and I mean tongues tangled and paws all over each other close – but suddenly I’ll realize how small she is. I’ll see my claws in her fur and I’ll start to wonder if I’m being too rough. I don’t know if I’m hurting her when I kiss her so I hold back just to make sure my teeth don’t touch her. I don’t remember how to touch her. I don’t remember how to control myself, and every time I feel that control start to slip I lock up. I can’t hurt her, Wolford. It’s like an instinct and I know it would kill me if I let myself go too far only to realize that…”

    “Listen, Nick,” Wolford cut him off, setting his own fork down to set both arms on the table, leaning forward so he could lower his voice. Most mammals with good hearing were polite enough to tune out such conversations, but some things were hard to ignore. “I see where the problem lies. You don’t remember being her partner. You don’t remember what she’s like. I’ve been her partner for over a month now and I can tell you that that bunny is not the fragile little thing that she seems to be. I’ve seen her take down perps as big as Bogo without so much as ruffling her fur. I’ve seen her win staring contests with polar bears. I don’t know how it is with other bunnies but from what I’ve seen, it’s obvious that she’s not like them. She married a fox. She married you, and everything that goes with that.”

    “I get that,” Nick said, sorting back through what memories he did have of her as his partner. Not many, as most of them centered around personal moments rather than doing the job. “I understand it, even. But just because she married me doesn’t mean that everything was compatible.”

    “Compatible,” Wolford drawled, his tongue dangling from the tip of his muzzle in a mocking gesture. “Like I said, you two were all over each other. Prey or not, there is a certain way a female looks and acts when she’s happy with her mate. She didn’t walk around looking smug and dreamy eyed, smelling like a fox because she  _tolerated_  sex out of love. And she certainly doesn’t get so turned on during patrol that I can smell it because we’re reminiscing about Clawhauser. Speaking of which, when are you going to come back to the force? I know Bogo has already opened a position for you to start on light duty. Complete memory or not, you’ve been welcome back to start with light duty to get you back on your feet. Why did you even take the tests if you weren’t going to come back? Judy misses you; misses her partner. Which is what leads to her reminiscing.”

    “It’s in there but I don’t remember much more than my first few days on the job,” he replied, giving up on finishing what was on his plate as he leaned back to cradle the beer bottle with both paws. “In my mind, I am still the street hustler. A lot of what made me a good cop is still missing and I don’t want to screw it up.”

    “That’s bullshit,” the wolf snorted in reply, making him frown a bit without raising his eyes. “Everything that made you a good cop is sitting right in front of me. You are everything that made Judy want you as a partner right now and that had nothing to do with the experience you gained being an officer. It isn’t the training or years of experience that she trusts, Nick. It’s you.”

     _“Take the case,” she whispered urgently, holding the shielded gray case out to him. “Get it to Bogo.”_

     _“I’m not going to leave you behind,” he said, pressing his paws into the top of the case to push it back towards her. Adrenaline, fear, and disbelief colored his tone when he met her eyes. “That’s not happening!”_

     _“I can’t walk!” she pressed as if that somehow made it okay for him to just leave her behind at the mercy of the sheep._

     _“Just… We’ll think of something!” he said, ready to ignore any further insistence on her part as his mind raced and his gaze swept the ground around them. Their eyes turned towards the sound of the sheep’s voice again – and really, that sheep was behind all of this? She was so fluffy! – and he fought back the panic that started to rise as he reached out to snatch the case away from the injured bunny._

     _“Still not leaving, Fluff,” he stated with a roll of his eyes when he saw the grateful acceptance on her face. Popping the latch and taking the dart gun from the case, he repeated the motions he had seen the ram perform to open the back of the gun. Fumbling a bit as the pellet almost fell to the ground, he slipped it into his shirt pocket after managing to catch it without breaking it. “We’re going to make a break for it.”_

     _“Then what are you doing?” she questioned, and he saw realization dawn on her face when he plucked a pair of blueberries off the ground and popped them into the chamber. A perfect fit._

     _“Insurance, in case making a break for it doesn’t work,” he said, snapping the receiver back into place as he moved his eyes to hers. The uncertainty and fear on his face was reflected in hers, and he shrugged while quickly shoving the gun back into the case. Was that damn sheep still talking? Would she ever shut up? “I know, I know. Stupid idea, but...”_

     _He stopped when she placed her small over his when he lifted the case. The little lift at the corner of her muzzle and the earnest but warm look she gave him stopped him for just a moment as he felt the warmth in her eyes._

     _“I trust you.”_

    Realizing that he was being watched didn’t bother him, nor did the fact that his friend continued to eat without comment as he relived the memory. It wasn’t the first time that Wolford had seen him try to sort through something remembered, and like before the patient wolf simply waited for him to refocus on the present. He was grateful for it as he ran the memory through his mind over again. The so-called Night Howler Incident was one of those huge gaps in his memory, and easily the most important.

     Between the moment where he stood in front of the naturalist club, asking her to hand over the carrot pen, and his decision to become a police officer and her partner, things had changed between them. Dislike and suspicion had become trust and friendship. The fact that he had fallen in love with her seemed inevitable beyond that. That love had come again, filled him so that the very idea of being without her made him miserable. It had all seemed so natural, so easy, that he couldn’t imagine existing any other way. That made it amazing and precious and…

     _And why does it matter what I remember, if I know?_

    

** What is Important **

    The house was quiet and darker than it should have been. The combination of the two had alarms going off in her head, fear tightening her gut, and her heart and mind at war with each other as the silent emptiness tried to creep in. Tried to warn her, foolishly, that this was it. He was gone. Every promise made, every assurance that he would never leave didn’t stop the moment. It was irrational and unwanted, but that also made it unavoidable. The seed of the fear, when she had those moments when she was honest with herself, was frustration and a little voice in the back of her mind that kept trying to tell her that he just wasn’t attracted to her. It was an easy, lazy excuse and she knew it. But that didn’t make it less real. He didn’t remember how or when things had started to change between them, after all. Didn’t that mean it was possible that the moment when he realized that he saw her as more than a ‘cute little bunny’ had never come again?

    “Nick?” she called, running her hand slowly over her belly in an attempt to calm it. Then hand moved to slide over her ears when his muffled voice called from the bedroom, smoothing them back as she let relief and her own frustration with her doubt settle in. Dropping her keys on the table beside the door, she reached up to unstrap the blue knife-vest as heavy paws carried her into the bedroom.

    She paused in the doorway with a frown when she saw that the lights were off in the bedroom, too. Easing the vest from her aching shoulders, her gaze fell on the dim light coming from the open bathroom door. She reached for the light switch but was stopped by the sound of his voice again.

    “Don’t turn on the lights,” it said, making her paw stop right before doing just that. “Come in here for a minute, will you, Carrots?”

    A long day at work and her own inner turmoil had her rolling her eyes, letting the vest hang limp in one paw as she trudged into the bathroom. Whatever her annoyance and self-flagellation had tried to tell her about the annoyingly playful tone in the fox’s voice died when she saw what waited for her in the bathroom.

    If she had been paying attention to anything more than her bad mood and aching paws, she would have noticed the scent of burning candles. The light scent apple blossoms – faint enough to remind her of the orchards back in Bunnyburrow – teased her nose, enhanced by the humidity of the room itself. What few candles there were on the sink shed enough light for her to see that the bath was filled with clear steaming water; water that looked so tempting to her aching body. But none of that was what allowed the vest to slip from numb fingers and plop into the tiled floor. No. It was the fact that the candlelight played over cream and orange fur, not an inch of it covered; and the fact that the scent of apples mingled with the familiar scent of fox; and that said naked fox was facing her, his muzzle propped up on paws that were placed on the rim of the bath. And the grin on that muzzle was  _all_  relaxed charm and smug pleasure, a pleasure that was no doubt because of her reaction.

    “Officer Hopps.”

    That ridiculously smooth and teasing way he said her name, which had been largely missing from her life after his memory loss, caused her to swallow unexpected nervousness. When combined with the appealing view of her very naked fox, with his ears perked high and luminescent green eyes focused on her in the dim room, it was hard to stop the little wobble in her knees. She knew her nose was twitching, too, but couldn’t find the calm needed to stop it when surprise, nervous energy and frank attraction to the image before her prevented her brain from engaging fully.

    “Buh?”

    The fact that his muzzle split into a wider, toothy grin had a blush racing up the length of her ears as the skin under fur warmed in embracement and arousal. This simply had not been anywhere near the list of things she had expected to find when she came home, particularly him being naked and looking far more confident than he had in over a month. The way emerald green eyes focused on her with affection and desire did all sort of wonderful things to her insides, at the foremost of which was a rise of hope when he patted the edge of the bath.

    “Are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to join me, Fluff? This bath won’t get any warmer until your tail is in it with me.”

    “That was terrible,” she said with a snort of trembling laughter. She didn’t hesitate to take him up on the offer, though, just like she didn’t hesitate to simply yank her uniform shirt off over her head and toss it into the bedroom.

    “This water is terrible,” he said, turning to lean back in the wide tub with one paw sliding over his ears dramatically as he thrust his chest out. Hands that were busy unbuttoning her pants paused when her gaze tracked the cream-colored fur down the front of his toned body, coming to rest on the thick sheath between his thighs. Particularly the red tip that was peeking out of said sheath. “Terribly lonely without my wife in it with me.”

    “Now you’re just trying to be cheesy,” she said, shaking of the sharp spike in need that rolled over her at the first sight of his arousal. Shoving her pants and briefs down in one motion, she paused when his eyes settled on her as she did so. The wet form of the fox turned in the bath to face her again, muzzle resting on his paws as he watched her without the worry or doubt that had clouded his gaze before. Now it held an open fascination and appreciation when she shimmied her hips a bit to slide her pants down around her paws before she kicked that out into the bedroom, too.

    “I’m cheesy when I’m nervous,” he admitted, though the look in his eyes went from fascinated to hungry at the sight of her fully nude. The difference in his attitude, his easy of speaking, and the way he watched her were all obvious. Maybe he had remembered something. Maybe it had been something that had reminded him that he didn’t need to be afraid of hurting her. But as curious as she might have been to know what had caused it, she didn’t want to press as her heart fluttered and her body tingled when the long pink muscle of his tongue slid out over his muzzle.

    “You don’t look nervous,” she mumbled as she moved closer to the edge of the tub, raising one leg to step over the edge. She paused when one large paw slipped behind her knee and another rested on her hip to help her keep balance. She blinked slowly down at him when he leaned close to her, placing a light kiss on her hip that caused a little shiver to slide deliciously down her spine. Then both paws claimed her hips, lifting her easily over the edge before slowly lowering her into the hot water.

    “I’m very nervous,” he said as she gave little hiccuping gasps as the heat of the water enveloped her up to her chest soaked into her fur. The time it took her to adapt to the heat surrounding her distracted her to the fact that she was just as surrounded by fox. His legs were spread on either side of her hips so that the first thing she became very clearly aware of was the fact that his sheath was nestled against the small of her back. And as appealing as that was, it wasn’t the focus for long when his arms wrapped around her to draw her back into his belly. That long muzzle nestled against the base of one relaxed ear, causing her lips to part at the pleasant sensation of his humming voice speaking softly against it. “I’ve never done this before.”

    His words clarified the state of his memory and caused a thrill of pleasure to race through her when he brushed his teeth through the fur of her ear. Light, sensual, but careful. The sort of bite she might have expected from him in the first days of their relationship before she had really started to urge him not to hold himself as much as he often did. Stretching one arm up over her head so she could reach around to grip the back of his neck, she did just that. Urged him until he nipped again so that she felt the gentle slide of his canines over the flesh under fur. A little groan escaped her and had him doing it again before he latched on softly and released a soft sound that was right on the edge of a growl. If he continued, she knew she would become a puddle of melted bunny and a slave to his desires. The need to have her fox back, to feel him touch her, had her squirm slowly with a roll of hips back against his.

    “If you don’t remember, what changed?” she asked as she savored the feel of his pads sliding down the front of her body. Her heart demanded patience while her body cried for a quickening. She hammered the desire down even as her free hand slid down his thigh, feeling a light pulse from the length that slowly rose against the small of her back.

    “I realized why I kept freezing,” he said, and she slid forward when his hands took control of her hips to nudge her away from him slightly. Disappointment quickly faded when he moved her away from his body only to see him reach for the scent free fur shampoo. The choice was so very Nick. Her scent was what he wanted, not some artificial flower. “I thought it was just because I didn’t want to hurt you, which was a part of it. A very large part of it. But that branched from the fact that I convinced my mind that if I didn’t remember something, I couldn’t do it right.”

    While he explained, she submitted herself to his paws. The cool sensation of a good bit of the shampoo being poured over her shoulders, the sensation of his fingers gently working it into a lather. The tingle of arousal mingled with a calming relaxation that had her quietly debating which she wanted more: to be taken that very minute with every bit of passion he could muster or to simply let him pamper her. A question that was momentarily answered when his palm-pad pressed into the top of her shoulders and his fingers spread out. The massage came as a surprise, but the first slow roll of his thumb around the almost forgotten ache in her shoulder muscles drew a contented moan. Her head dropped forward, her ears flopping and slapping the surface of the water in a way that had him chuckling as he continued to wash/massage her.

    “Well, you were obviously wrong about that,” she groaned in pure delight when his thumb pads ran in small circles on either side of her neck, right at the base where the worst of the tension seemed to be. “That feels amazing.”

    “Anything for you, Fluff,” he said, and the way he focused his attention on a spot right below her shoulder-blades had her letting out another long sound of pleasure. She didn’t even have to ham it up for him. She knew what he was doing or had started to do when she had stepped into the bath with him. What had started as a way for him to learn her body again had become something entirely for her benefit. The fact that she felt not the slightest bit of guilt was purely selfish on her part, but he didn’t seem to mind. The fact that he was almost fully hard – sans knot – against the small of her back now was a clear enough sign of that, along with the way the pace of his paws didn’t change or urge more from her than the nudge forward so he could move lower.

    “So now you… Ah! That spot, right there!” she cried when he cupped her waist with both paws and ran his thumbs slowly and firmly over a tender bunch of muscles on her lower back. The pain at the start was worth it a hundred times over as they started to relax under his now focused attention. “I’ve always loved your paws.”

    “Have you,” he hummed, switching the direction of his paws until she could feel them cupping her hips under the water to scoot her rear back against him. The heat of his arousal right up against her tail made her shiver even as it caused a little lusty growl to rise in his throat. “What is it that you love about my paws?”

    “They’re big,” she breathed, wiggling her hips and her tail in a motion that made him throb against her. The water might have hidden the musky scent of his arousal for the most part, but just feeling it so obviously after so long made her blood run hot. “I feel like you’re touching me everywhere at once sometimes. But you’re almost always gentle.”

    “Almost always?” he questioned, making her whimper when his paws left her hips and reached for the soap again. When they returned, their attention now shifted to the fur on top of her head and around the base of her ears. Remembering their sex life or not, he certainly had learned some sensitive spots. The tingle that spread like a pleasant warmth from her ears and scalp traveled down her spine until her desire to simply raise her hips and take him inside of her was almost overpowering. The ache of need denied even this much until now, was almost painful.

    “You get a little wild sometimes,” she said, her head tilted back as he slowly worked the lather around the base of each ear without letting it get into the ear itself. She felt his fingers slow and tilted her head back to look at the slight frown on his muzzle. Her lips turned up into a grin as she slid her paws down his thighs slowly. “I love it when you’re wild. I love it when you’re gentle. There were times when you’ve spent what felt like hours kissing and touching me until I just wanted to beg you to take me. Just like there were times when we would get home from work and hardly make it through the door before you would bend me over whatever piece of furniture we managed to reach first. I have very fond memories of the dining room table, you know.”

    “Carrots,” he all but groaned, and she squirmed herself back against him until she felt a very lively throb from the length of fox she had trapped between softly furred cheeks.

    “And the back of the couch,” she continued, her grin growing sultry as her eyes heated at the almost pained looked on his face. His ears were set back, obviously trying to show some control, but it was impossible for her not to tease him when the paws on her ears tried their best to continue the gentle wash he had clearly planned in very detail. Even as she continued, she rocked back to meet the eager grind of his hips. And it felt so good, just feeling him that intimately again; feeling the need rolling through him as his moans mingled with a growl. “And the wall in the hallway. I’ve wondered if it is just something you like doing with me because I’m small and light enough for you to just pick up and shove against any random surface. But you’ve always had a thing for pinning me against the wall. So predatory, demanding, desperate. I feel so beautiful and needed when you can’t control yourself.”

    “Fluff,” he tried again, the near whimper of his voice delighting her to no end, just like the feel of his claws sliding past the fur to brush against her skin so softly that it was like the touch of a feather.

    Still being so gentle. This was Her Fox, even if he didn’t remember everything that made him so. He was still the Nick she had fallen in love with and she was still his mate. She could hear his heart as clearly as she could feel the hot breath close to her ears and the throb of his need. An arch of the hips allowed her tail to peek out of the water, along with the white fur of her rear when she leaned away from him a bit. Just to give him the view of her raised hips, which he drank in and reached for with a gleam of nearly feral lust in his eyes.

    With a tinkling laugh, she rolled onto her back between those paws so she could dunk herself under the surface. Squirming around when she felt his hands fall on her hips, she rubbed her hands over her fur quickly to rinse off the soap before she found herself dragged into his arms. Muzzle to muzzle, nose to nose, eye to eye. She felt the humor of her short escape from the aroused fox fade when she met his gaze. The feel and sound of water raining down their bodies as she rested her paws on his chest to brace herself was background sensation to the feeling of her own heart beating fast. And she realized that he wasn’t the only nervous one in their bath, her belly quivering just because of how he looked at her. Like he was still trying to figure everything out, reaching for information that was just beyond his reach.

    “We’re not going to stop this time, are we?” she whispered, feeling more than a little shy under the intensity of his gaze. The hunger in those green eyes was so familiar, but somehow different at the same time. Tempered and restrained, but just on the edge of breaking out.

    “No,” came his reply in a voice that was a little rough as he dragged her closer. She could feel his heat pulse against her belly fur and quivered into the kiss when his mouth met hers. Soft but deep, slow but not innocent, his tongue met hers the moment their mouths parted. Her own pleased moan was drowned under his growl, just as her mouth was covered by his. Not forcefully, not without care, but overwhelming all the same until all she wanted was to wrap her body around his and feel him slide into her.

    Instead, she felt the motion of their bodies when he stood and carried her out of the bath. About to wrap her legs around him, she blinked slowly and broke the kiss when he set her on her feet. Slightly confused and slightly disappointed, her eyes rose to him to find him grinning down at her toothily.

    “No, we’re not going to stop this time,” he assured her, reaching to tug a thick, fluffy towel from the rack on the wall. “But we’re not going to rush it either.”

    “What if I want to rush it?” she huffed, dripping in more ways than one as she squirmed in place. She could see that he knew exactly what her current state was by the flare of his nostrils, the slow slide of his tongue over the roof of his mouth and the continued grin as he lowered himself to one knee in front of her. Her ears folded back when he simply unfolded the towel and held it out for her. When she stepped into the offered warmth, she turned around to face away from him as he started to scrub it over her fur slowly.

    Even knowing that he was trying to be patient and take his time was having the opposite effect on her. She was with her husband, after all. She knew his body, knew what she wanted and it had been so long. Feeling selfish wasn’t stopping her body from arching slowly into the hands that she could feel through the towel as he dried her. When he cupped her belly and chest, sliding the towel more carefully over the white fur there as he breathed in her ear, her legs shook. The feeling of the cloth over her nipples sent little shocks through her, pleasure and need gathering between her thighs until her sex ached. Even though she tried to calm herself, tried to give him everything that he wanted, the scent of aroused fox was all around her. Like flowers and male and salt all mingled together in a combination that made her want to whimper. It had been so long and she needed him so much.

    Even as she struggled between the need to please him and the need to satisfy her own unbearable desire, she realized that the paw cupping her rear was not separated from her by a towel. The slightly rough pad of his palm slowly explored the cleft under her, sliding lower as she felt the press of his muzzle against her ear. The whisper of a growl that he released made her already shaky legs wobble, forcing her to lean back against him when his fingers slipped between her thighs.

    “You’re hot,” he murmured, sounding as surprised by it as he had the first time they had made love. She was certain that she was, and felt the shock of pleasure when he allowed one thick finger to slide over the folds of her sex. Slick flesh parted easily to him, her head dropping back on his shoulder so she could moan to the ceiling as the pad explored her easily. “You smell amazing.”

    “Nick, please,” she groaned, and in a sexual daze watched his free paw move to the switch on the wall. Warm air billowed over them as the fur driers embedded in the walls came on. Using that warming little distraction, he pressed that single finger deeper, causing her hips to arch back even as her legs finally decided to give out. She didn’t just drop to the floor. He didn’t allow that to happen. One paw spread over her chest while the other remained seated between her legs from behind, lowering her to the ground until she settled on her hands and knees. His body followed, staying close, half covering her so his muzzle could stay close to her ear and his chest was pressed to her back.

    “You’re so amazing. So small and so beautiful,” he said, and to her, his voice sounded half-drunk with a need all his own. Oddly, it calmed him that he was as needy as she was. He wasn’t doing this because he wanted to tease her; he was doing this because he wanted to know her. She felt the curious finger moving over wet flesh, dipping deeper to make her hike her hips up as the pressure inside of her increased until she was panting and staring off into space. There was nothing for her to see or hear or smell or feel beyond the fox behind and on top of her. The slick sound of his finger pumping into her now, the tickle of his fur on her outer lips, the not quite complete fullness just because of how large his paws were. All of it was pushing her so close…

    “I love you, Judy.”

    The softly murmured words, the fact that he said her name for the first time since she had come home: it was all too much. She was sent tumbling over the edge of orgasm so suddenly that the shockwave of emotion and sensation combined to tear a sound from her muzzle that wasn’t at all civilized. She fisted her fingers into the plush rug under her as she arched her hips back to his now quickly moving paw, a paw that cupped her sex fully and moved with the swift buck of her hips. She rode the sensation, rode the finger inside of her and the pad of his palm as it pressed to the sensitive bud of her clit. She didn’t know when the sob came or when the tears started to fall, but she knew that it was just another part of the release that had been building for so long.

    What should have weakened her only energized her and made her want more. She felt his paw slow, felt him draw his muzzle away from her ears and when she glanced up, realized that he was frowning with his ears pinned back because of the tears that had fallen. A quick sniff and a brush of her paw over her cheeks was enough to remove the traces even as he looked at her worriedly.

    “Did I..?”

    Dumb fox. A paw covered in the juices of her orgasm and he no doubt wondered if he’d hurt her.

    “Make me feel so good that I cried a little?” she chirped, moving closer to him as he stood on his knees to give her room to move.

    She heard his sharp intake of breath when she moved close to him, still on her hands and knees, and pressed her nose into the still damp fur of his belly. Clean as he was, the scent of his wet fur was lightly floral, very male and didn’t hide the salty scent of his arousal. The arousal that she cupped with both silky paws, tracing her fingers up the length of red flesh until she felt the damp of precum sliding between her fingers. She kept her eyes on his, enjoying the fact that he seemed entranced when she leaned forward to slide her tongue over her fingers to savor the taste of him without actually touching him. She allowed herself that moment to tease him, where his attention was fully focused on her and what she did; from the high position of his ears to the little quivering twitches of his broader nose. The sharp huff of his exhale when she touched the tip of her nose against the base of his shaft was followed by a long groan when she slid her tongue up the length. She watched him clench his teeth, his eyes closed for a moment when she rolled that tongue over the narrow tip until his hips tensed and pressed the achingly hard flesh more firmly into her paws. Then she drew back, licking her lips as she waited patiently for his eyes to open again. The pleading in them made her heart flutter and her arousal spike, and she knew that she wouldn’t be teasing him for long. But she could still tease just a little.

    She made sure he his mouth was open to speak before she parted her lips and carefully slid the tip between them for a light suck. Whatever he had planned on saying escaped as a throaty sound; primal, needy and pleased all at once. She tasted that need again, savored the salt and male flavor that she had missed as she felt his hips tremble with the effort to keep himself still. He was as on edge as she had been, and she had no doubt that she could send him over. Her fingers confirmed it when she felt the beginning swell of his knot at the base before she let him slide free with a little flick of her tongue over the tip.

    “Are you done exploring me, fox?” she questioned, seeing that feral, predatory glint come back into his eyes. It was more intense this time. The need to mate. She knew that look and longed for what it would bring. So she pushed for more as she nestled her muzzle against the pulsing and very hard length, little huffing breaths whispering over the length as she continued. “If you can catch me, you can have me.”

    The way his eyes narrowed on her the moment before she released him and scrambled through the door on all fours told her that he got it. It wasn’t even a chase. He might not remember playing this game before, hunting her through the house, but she could tell that he remembered the rules when he was on her before she even made it to the bedroom door. The surprised ‘whompph’ of her breath leaving her when her mad dash for the door was cut short by the sensation of being lifted and swung towards the bed.

    Her back hit the cool silk covering the mattress was a short-term sensation, instantly overwhelmed by the heat of her fox over her. The scent of him, the heat of him on top of her taking all other sensation from the world and focusing every nerve on the brush of fur against fur, flesh against flesh when her thighs parted for him until she felt the tip of his need nudge the mouth of her sex. Whether he intended to be gentle or not was lost when she squeezed strong thighs around him, and even as he rose on his elbows to look down at her she dragged him forward firmly. The sharp moment of pain from being stretched so after so long without him inside of her was drowned in the pleasure as their voices called out together. Then they lay together, both breathing deeply and trembling as they savored the closeness of being joined so completely.

    Realizing that it was very much like their first time all over again, Judy felt the need blend with a contentment that came just knowing that he was inside of her. She savored the heat of him inside of her, the heat of his body on top of hers, the pressure his size created and the knowledge that there was more to come. And him. The little whispers of his breath over her ears; soft inhales and slow, heated exhales that came between soft licks. She brushed her lips over his chest in light kisses, pausing for sharp moan when he drew back almost to the tip only to fill her again. He was testing his limits, she knew. Savoring at least as much as she was with every thrust that followed, but still holding himself back. Still afraid that he could hurt her.

    “All of you Nick,” she whispered, tightening around him when he sheathed himself inside of her fully. The sound of his moans and the thickening at the base of his length told her how close he was, just like the shaking in his arms told her how hard he was trying to hold back. “Don’t hold back. I’m your wife, your partner, and I’ve always wanted this. I will always want this.”

    The last she said as she tightened her arms and legs around him and because he seemed to accept the truth of it she felt him tense as he allowed himself to slip fully inside her. The swelling that had been hardly noticeable came so quickly inside of her that it was almost painful. The increase in pressure, the fullness as his knot thickened and locked inside of her was bliss to the body that had grown to love the feeling. Hesitation was thrown to the wind when she felt him buck against her. Her hips rose to meet the quick, urgent thrusts that came now that he was no longer able to hold the need back, no longer saw the need to hold it back. His arms gave way until she felt the full weight of him on top of her, felt him arch his back so that he could bury his muzzle in her throat. The bite came as a surprise but acted as a catalyst when the build of pleasure came on like fire in her blood. The sharp drag of his teeth and the vibration of his voice when he growled was as erotic and blissful to her as the pleasure of his flesh throbbing inside of her.

    She felt him tense. Felt every muscle under her paws and pressed against her body tighten and strain as he ground his hips against hers. She felt his shaft thicken, felt his knot pulse eagerly, and bore down against the rush that was so intense that it was almost agony when she felt him fill her with liquid heat. Pulse after pulse, beat after beat until she muffled her scream into the fur of his shoulder. Months of need and denial robbed her of the ability to think when orgasm rippled through her with such intensity that light bloomed behind closed eyes. All she could do was ride it out, cling to him as he clung to her and allow their bodies to have what they needed from one another.

    She didn’t think she passed out, though she was sure it was close. Drowning in sensation had left her adrift in a weightless world where the first coherent thought she had was the sound of his voice whispering her name. Then came loving words that she didn’t fully translate at first, but got the gist of their meaning when they were combined with the gentle feel of his paws sliding over her muzzle and his lips brushing hers. When her eyes finally managed to open, she was looking into emerald green eyes that watched her from a face that was as blissfully content as she felt.

    Stages of happiness, she decided. She could track them from the moment she had learned he was alive after the attack, to the moment she saw him look at her with love in his eyes for the first time since losing his memory, and then hearing him proclaim that he was her husband. And every moment between. Every one of those moments a step up, closer to where she wanted to be. To where she wanted them to be; both happy, together, and ridiculously in love.

    And locked together by the knot that made her insides ache in the best of ways. If that wasn’t bliss, she didn’t know what the word meant.

    “That was,” he began after a moment, then shook his head when words failed him.

    “That was us,” she said for him, spreading her fingers out over his chest to feel the muscle under fur even as she felt one of his paws slide along the curve of her hip.

    “It’s always like this? How are we alive?” he said, that cocky grin crawling over his muzzle just before he pressed that muzzle to hers.

    “Well, not  _always,_ ” she countered with a short laugh when the kiss broke, more than content at the moment to just savor this ‘mandatory cuddle time.’ Not that she ever felt he needed to be forced to cuddle. Once Nicholas Wilde had opened up, he had proven to be every bit the devoted and cuddle-hungry mate. “But often enough that we keep trying until we reach it again.”

    The grin grew on his muzzle as the eager humor in his eyes turned sultry and heated for a moment. Then as they lay together, she saw his expression become curious and somber. Maybe a little uncertain, maybe a little frightened when he reached up to cup her face in both paws.

    “Carrots, have I ever thanked you?”

    “Thanked me?” Genuinely confused, she place her paws over his lightly and searched his face.

    “For this,” he said and she didn’t bother to hide her chuckle when he rolled his eyes at the wiggle of her eyebrows. He ground his hips forward, tearing a little groan from her when he rubbed every little spot inside of her just the right way. “Yes, this too. But I mean all of this. This life.”

    “Nick,” she began but was stopped when he placed a finger over her muzzle.

    “I was a street hustler who had given up on ever being more than that before I was dragging into your house with a head wound and no memory of the last three years.” He moved his paw, placing a soft kiss on her lips before he continued. “And since then, I’ve learned that I am trusted and honorable. I’ve learned that I am a member of the ZPD and that people like me for who I am, and not what I pretend to be. I have friends who have just been waiting for me to remember them. My mom is proud of me. Hell,  _I_ am proud of who I am.”

    “Nick, this is who you really are,” she said, smiling softly as she felt a little rise of pride in her chest. “Everything you’ve done came from who you are, not because of me.”

    “I don’t think so, not entirely,” he admitted, shaking his head slightly before meeting her eyes. “Maybe who I was before, with these, slowly returning memories, forgot where I came from. But because I don’t have those memories, I see it all clearly. I may have worked for what I have now, but I would never have taken the steps needed without you. And I know I can see myself as more than the hustler I most remember being because you trust me. Everything, all you’ve done for me, is what’s important. This happiness, what to me is a life that I was never meant to have, exists because you are mine and I am yours. I love you, Judy. And I want to thank you for loving me.”

    The tears that blurred her vision and finally fell were kissed away by his gentle tongue as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Those words, so similar to those he had said in the past – words that he didn’t remember but still felt – eased whatever fear still lingered in her heart. And it reminded her that, even without those memories, this was still Her Fox.

    And he always would be.

** Nicholas Wilde **

    Waking up that morning should have been hard. He had woken her up once in the middle of the night, taking the first real taste of her that he could remember. And that delightful bit of self-indulgence, where he learned exactly how delicious rabbit was, had turned into an hour-long lovemaking that had kept them up until two in the morning. He had expected to be more dead than alive when he woke, but it was hard to stay asleep when she seemed intent on returning his late-night favor by taking her own taste of him as the glow of the morning sun peeked in through the window. He soon found that pinning her face down and taking her from behind, while she muffled her delighted cries with a pillow, had been more than enough to invigorate him for the day to come.

    A day that promised to be busy and had him cross his arms as he stood beside the bed and stared down at his sleeping wife. Not that he minded the view of the bunny, who slept on her side facing away from him. Not a stitch of clothing had managed to make its way back onto that toned and softly furred body. He was afforded a beautiful view that he took a moment to admire for the second time that morning before he leaned over and pressed his muzzle against her ear.

    “Wake up, Fluff. You have to get ready for work.”

    Waking was a slow process, even as he nibbled on her bare shoulder and ran his paw down the curve of her hip slowly. She grumbled a bit, drawing a chuckle from him when she reached back to grab his paw and drag it up to her chest to hug.

    “I’ll call in sick,” she muttered, not even bothering to open her eyes as she used her grip on his hand to try to drag him back into bed. “Stay in bed with me all day. Catch up.”

    How tempting an offer that was, that it made him sigh and have to actively resist the desire to crawl in beside her again. But no, he had been ideal enough.

    “I would love to,” he quipped, then slowly dragged his arm away from her as she protested the loss by turning and blinking sleepily up at him. “But I just ironed my uniform and wouldn’t want to go in for my first day back looking like the fox who’d just attacked a bunny.”

    That woke her up. Another few blinks followed before she sat bolt upright with ears so high they trembled when she realized that he was in his duty uniform. He grinned as he stepped back, holding his arms out to show the crisp and neatly pressed blues, shiny brass shield and the name tag that read  _Nicholas P. Wilde._

    “How do I look?” he asked, then shook his head at her expression when she looked on the verge of tears. “No, no, no Officer Hopps. If you’re going to cry, cry after I’ve survived my first day. Bogo is expecting me, and says you can have your partner back as long as you’re all right with light duty for the ne…”

    He was cut off by her mouth on his when she launched herself from the bed and threw her arms around him. All the talk about wrinkling his uniform when right out the window when her kiss became heated and her paws gripped his tie so she could drag him back into bed and under her. All in all, having to smooth out the uniform and sprits himself with scent neutralizer while he watched the well-loved bunny beside him pull on the dark blue vest that completed her uniform was well worth it. The sex had certainly been a bonus.

    “Are you always like this when I’m in uniform?” he asked, adjusting the tie that she hadn’t let go of until she’d been satisfied. “If so, I feel I should wear it all the time. But then, how do we ever get any work done?”

    “Very carefully,” she snorted in reply, looking up at him with bright amethyst eyes that nearly glowed with an excited energy. “It’s really good to see you in uniform again, Slick.”

    Turning to look at himself in the mirror, he considered what he saw for a long moment as he let his paws fall away from the tie. He had memories of himself in this uniform, as sparse as they were. And of course, he had seen pictures of himself. Newspaper clippings, the graduation photos with his mom and Judy, and the multitude of shots on her phone. But that fox had almost looked like a stranger to him. Not what he was seeing now, not after the feeling of pride he had experienced when he had taken his time making sure that the uniform was neat and everything was in order. It still felt a little strange.

    Then a tiny paw moved to the knot of his tie, and he watched as she tugged it down a few inches away from the collar. He glanced down to Judy as she adjusted it again and then hung his pair of aviator sunglasses from the front of his shirt as she grinned up at him. Then she turned and his gaze followed hers to the mirror.

    The uniform looked better, more natural to him. A little more relaxed, though no less official with the brass shield shining on his chest. The memories would come in time, but now he understood that the memories were not needed for him to be who he was. And it was the bunny beside him, leaning against his side with a look of unparalleled delight on her face at the prospect of having her partner back, that made the picture complete.

    This was Nicholas Wilde and everything – everyone – that made him who he was.

    “You ready to get back to it, partner?” his wife chirped, quite literally bouncing as she made her way out the door.

    Pausing for a second, he stepped over to the dresser beside the bed and tugged the drawer open. The carrot pen sat, with its message to them both unchanged for the years they had been married. Years that he would get back, eventually. But for now, he would hold onto everything he had and build on everything they shared. Reaching in, he picked up the pen and tucked it into his shirt pocket before facing the mirror again.

    “Of course I am,” he grinned, giving the fox in the mirror a private salute before he turned to follow her. “One hundred percent.”

 

 


End file.
